


Stuck With You

by lizardwriter



Category: DC's Legends of Tomorrow (TV)
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-25
Updated: 2018-12-02
Packaged: 2019-05-13 18:58:58
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 9
Words: 25,637
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14754437
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lizardwriter/pseuds/lizardwriter
Summary: Sara and Ava realize that they are stuck in time together, and it might be a while before they get rescued.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I was inspired by this glorious gifset: http://reginalovesemma.tumblr.com/post/168431898385/ava-and-sara-get-stuck-in-2011-and-get-more-than 
> 
> This is an AU set sometime before the crossover episodes from season 3.
> 
> Just like with my other multi-chapter story: this will be largely unedited and I won't be able to update on a consistent schedule because kids and life, but I'll update when I can, and I hope you'll enjoy even if you have to wait!

“Did the Waverider just...?”

Sara sighed heavily. “Yes. Yes it did. But you have your time courier right?”

Ava shook her head. “It got smashed in the fight.”

“Great. Just great. I’m going to kill whoever told Gideon to take off without us!”

“We were late,” Ava argued. “It’s unlike the Legends to follow a plan, but we did tell them not to wait.”

Sara shook her head. “You always wait. It doesn’t matter! You know, this is what we get for trying to work with the Time Bureau on a case. One of your bosses probably bullied them into leaving us. We’re, what’s the term you suits use? ‘Acceptable losses’?” Sara spat out the words. 

“We knew what we were signing up for when we took the job. Of course, if you’d kept a level head and hadn’t provoked the man with a lot of guns, maybe we would have made it back in time. The goal IS always NOT to get stranded in time.”

Sara glared at her.

“Yeah, well, we are, so now what?”

“Now there are protocols in place.”

“Of course there are,” Sara grumbled. 

Ava ignored her. “We blend as best we can. Anything that we know stays unchanged through the year 2017 we can attempt to leave a message on, but only discreetly and there are certain safety precautions we need to take. For instance no mentions of time travel.”

“Really? Shocking. Tell me more,” Sara said in a monotone voice. 

Ava huffed. “If you’re not going to take this seriously-“

“Take this seriously? I just lost my ship. MY ship. And I’m stranded in 2011, which bonus: Obama’s still president, but downside: we have to live through Trump getting elected all over again-“

“I still can’t believe that’s not an anachronism,” Ava muttered under her breath. 

“You and me both, sister,” Sara agreed. “Point is, I’m not exactly thrilled about this, and it IS serious, but I don’t need a lecture on the rules.”

“No, of course not. You’re a Legend and Legends don’t follow rules. They take off on foot after well-armed men and try to save the day no matter the odds!”

Sara glared harder. “You weren’t prepared to let those kids die either. I seem to remember you helping. And we DID save the day, didn’t we?”

Ava nodded. “We did. And now we’re stranded in 2011. Together.”

If Sara hadn’t agreed with it so thoroughly, the tone of voice that Ava had said “together” in would have been insulting. “You’re right. This sucks.”

  
  
  


“Maybe the Time Bureau should have set up safe houses throughout time. You know, in case agents ever get stranded?” Sara suggested as they looked around the dingy motel room. How there had only been one vacancy left in this dump, she had no idea. At least there were two beds, though she wasn’t sure she trusted them not to have bed bug infestations. 

Ava glared. 

“It’d make rescue easier, for starters. Go to the safe house, write a message on the wall, it’s the Time Bureau’s property, so no worry that civilians will be effected, and bam! Rescue!” Sara pointed out. 

“I’ll have you know that I proposed such a measure last month. It just...hasn’t made it through the Bureau’s red tape yet,” Ava muttered through gritted teeth. 

“Well, wouldn’t want to rush bureaucracy on something practical, now, would we?”

“You know, your snarky comments about the Bureau aren’t going to make this situation any better!” Ava snapped. 

“Neither are your disparaging remarks about my team,” Sara countered. “I’ll stop when you stop.”

Ava narrowed her eyes at her. “Fine,” she snarled. “I propose a détente. Until our current situation has improved and we have a concrete plan.”

“What, you don’t like our new digs?” 

Ava glared and Sara sighed. 

“Yeah, Fine. Détente.”

They sat in silence, surveying their new situation. 

Sara was less than thrilled. 

She missed her bed. She missed her team. She missed the Waverider. She missed being able to escape Agent Sharpe’s obnoxious company.

She knew that somewhere out there a young Ta-er al-Sahfer was still with Nyssa, still working for the League, still trapped, just in a different way. 

Ollie was still out there, too. A year away from coming home. 

And Laurel. 

Laurel was alive. Laurel was out there alive and in the cruelest twist of all, still believed her dead. 

“I don’t really think I need to say this, but you know you can’t go home, right? Or interact with your younger self?”

Sara glared at Ava. 

“Just checking,” Ava said, holding up a hand appeasingly. 

“There isn’t a home to go back to,” Sara informed her. 

Ava frowned and then realization dawned. “Right. You were still with the League of Assassins at this point. Sara Lance was believed dead.”

Sara’s eyes narrowed. 

“I read your file,” Ava explained. “When you were technically a fugitive from the Bureau.”

“Lovely,” Sara replied sarcastically. She did not foresee their détente being long-lived. 

Ava’s features softened and a sympathetic smile formed on her face. “I’m sorry. It must be hard being so close to home, knowing you could give your family some peace and not being able to.”

Sara looked away. She didn’t need Ava’s sympathy. She needed to get back to 2017 and the Waverider. They had a job to do. The anachronisms weren’t going to fix themselves, and the team...well, they had a tendency to bicker when there was nobody there to play referee. “What about you?” Sara asked more to fill the silence than out of actual curiosity. “You’re not tempted to go home?”

Ava shrugged. “I was never that close to my parents. I left for college and barely looked back.”

“No annoying goodie-two-shoes Sharpe siblings?” 

Ava narrowed her eyes at Sara. “No. I’m an only child.”

“It’s almost a shame. It would have been interesting to see if such inflexibility when it comes to even bending rules was a genetic thing or…?”

“I thought we had a détente in place. So maybe you could try not being a jerk for a whole five minutes?”

Sara relented. She was grumpy about their situation and her company, but it wasn’t Ava’s fault, per se. She sighed heavily. “You’re right. I’m sorry.”

Ava looked surprised. “You’re what?” 

Sara glared. “The not being a jerk thing is a two way street.”

“Sorry, I just didn’t realize you knew those words.”

Sara glared harder, her hands clenching into fists. 

“Okay, you’re right, sorry.” Ava took a deep breath. “This is going to be harder than I thought.”

  
  


Ava Sharpe snored. 

It wasn’t too bad at first. Just a light snore here and there. Not enough to keep Sara awake. 

And then she rolled onto her back and suddenly it was like a chainsaw had been started in the room. 

Sara put her pillow over her head, but she could still hear her. 

Sara groaned and pulled the blankets up over her head too.

It didn’t help. 

Sara sat upright. 

“Ava!” she hissed. 

Nothing. No change. 

“Ava!” she snarled louder. 

There was a snort and a cough and Ava changed positions slightly. 

Sara waited for a few seconds, but the room remained blissfully snore-free. She sighed in relief and laid back down. She had just shut her eyes when the snoring began again. She groaned loudly and sat up again. “Agent Sharpe!” she tried, to no avail. 

She picked up her pillow and threw it at Ava. Hard. 

Ava jolted awake and looked around startled. She noticed the extra pillow lying on her lap. “What the-?”

“You snore,” Sara grumbled. 

“I do not!” Ava replied defensively. 

“You could wake the dead. In fact, you might have. We should check for zombies in the morning.”

Ava glared hard. If looks could kill, Sara would have been a goner. “I can’t wait until we can get a second room,” Ava grumbled, laying back down and rolling away from Sara. 

The feeling was mutual. 

And yet...there was a nagging thought in the back of her mind. She’d been stranded before. Twice, as a matter of fact. The first time with Ray and Kendra and despite the company she’d never felt more alone. She’d felt so alone that she’d willingly gone back to the League of Assassins just to feel like she belonged somewhere. 

The second time, after Rip had time scattered them, she’d worked her way through half the women in the village and almost gotten hanged for her troubles, just to feel a connection with someone. Anyone. 

Here, now, with Ava...Okay, her company wasn’t exactly ideal. In fact, it was kind of crap, but so far, at least, she didn’t feel lonely. 

Of course, it had only been a day. 

  
  
  


Having a normal job sucked. Especially the kind you could get where the employer didn’t ask too many questions about credentials or social security numbers. 

It was harder on Ava, Sara knew. At least Sara had bartending experience. Okay, the place she was working was definitely a dive, but they didn’t ask questions or expect answers and if the clientele wanted to push their luck with her, a broken finger wasn’t apt to get her fired. 

Ava, on the other hand, seemed like she was born to work in an office bossing underlings around. The Whole Foods knock-off she’d managed to find a cashier’s job at involved none of that. It involved a forced smile and politeness to a bunch of idiots who demanded products that weren’t in stock and tried to exchange coupons for items they weren’t buying. At least, that’s how Ava described her days when she sunk down onto her bed, body and brain exhausted in their two hours of overlap before Sara started her shift. 

“Seriously, the customers at Nature Mart make the Legends look like detail-oriented geniuses!”

“You know, I’m pretty sure Ray, Stein, and Zari are all actually geniuses,” Sara pointed out, feeling too sorry for Ava to be offended by her comment. 

Ava chuckled meekly. 

“Just remember what we’re working towards. Job means money. Money means we get out of this crappy motel room and into our own places.”

“Which means you stop throwing pillows at me at night,” Ava added. 

“Seriously have you ever been tested for sleep apnea?”

“My snoring cannot be THAT bad. My ex-girlfriend never complained.”

That sentence took Sara a moment to process. She raised an eyebrow and pursed her lips, looking curiously at Ava. “Ex-girlfriend?”

Ava shook her head. “She lives in Vegas. Anyway, she never once complained about my snoring, so explain that!” Ava challenged. 

“Was she deaf?” Sara suggested. 

“No!” Ava replied, looking triumphant, as if that settled everything. 

“She must have been a heavy sleeper. That or she kicked you a lot in your sleep to make you roll over and you never noticed.”

Ava managed a glare, but it lacked her normal spark thanks to her exhaustion. “I notice the pillows landing on my head.”

Sara grinned. “I do have good aim, don’t I?”

Ava groaned. “Why are you so chipper and annoying right now?”

“Because I haven’t gone to deal with the assholes at my job yet today,” Sara replied. 

“At least the assholes at your job sometimes buy you a drink. God, I could use a drink right now.”

Sara smiled sympathetically. She patted Ava on the leg. “It’s more than sometimes,” she assured her. 

So, she thought to herself as she headed to the bathroom to get a shower before work, Ava Sharpe liked the ladies. 

Not that that meant anything, obviously, but it was interesting information to file away. 

Maybe Ava Sharpe wasn’t quite such a square after all. 

  
  
  


“Come on, we’re going out for drinks,” Sara informed Ava. 

“I’m too tired,” Ava groaned. 

“You have tomorrow off and I have tonight off. It has been three weeks since we got stuck here and all we have done is find jobs and work. Come on. You need to unwind,” Sara coaxed. 

Ava lifted her head off of her bed and looked at Sara as if gauging her seriousness. Sara looked back at her expectantly. 

Ava dropped her head back against the mattress with a soft thud. “Too tired. Can’t move.”

Sara rolled her eyes. “Drama queen. Come on. Up you get.” Sara held out a hand to Ava. 

Ava eyed it skeptically for a moment, then took it and let Sara help her up. 

“I have nothing to wear,” came Ava’s next protest. “I just have the horrible work clothes, my Bureau clothes, and my one comfy outfit.”

It was true that they’d had trouble finding affordable clothing, scrounging around thrift shops for a few finds with their little funds that remained after the motel room and food. 

“Good thing I work at a bar. My work clothes are going out clothes. You can borrow a top.”

Ava gave her a curious look, but didn’t protest further. 

Sara dug around for the longest top she had, a black tunic with a plunging v-neck decorated with some lacework. “This should work.”

“Thanks,” Ava said, sounding a little unsure still. 

“Going out will be good for you. We’re not going to run into ourselves. We’re not apt to run into anyone we know. Just relax and unwind. Have fun, assuming you know how.”

Ava glared, and Sara felt a small glimmer of triumph. No way Ava wasn’t coming out with her, now that she’d recognized the challenge in her words. And if she got Ava a little drunk and got her to loosen up a bit, maybe she wouldn’t be so insufferable. 

“I’ll have you know that I am lots of fun,” Ava declared. 

“I’ll believe it when I see it,” Sara replied with a smirk. 

Ava gave her a hard look, then took the top to the bathroom along with a pair of jeans so she could change. “Oh, and no getting drunk. We don’t want to run the risk of running our mouths and exposing the truth about time travel,” Ava said, sticking her head out of the bathroom. 

Before Sara could respond, Ava had shut the door. 

Sara rolled her eyes. “Sure. You’re tons of fun,” she muttered under her breath. 


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dancing and drinking could spell fun...if Ava would just loosen up a bit.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy Pride!
> 
> I wanted to post today in honor of the start of Pride! Sending love to all of you!

The bar was...Well, it had alcohol. And music. It wasn’t bad music, either. 

There were a few pretty faces there, too, Sara noticed as she surveyed the space. 

It probably wasn’t going to win any awards for decor, though, Sara mused. Or cleanliness, she thought, as she quickly removed her arms from where she’d leaned them on the bar, the stickiness staying with her and making her cringe. 

“What do you want?” Sara asked Ava, who was standing far-too-awkwardly a short distance off.  

“Water,” Ava replied, matter-of-factly. 

Sara rolled her eyes and caught the bartender’s attention. “Two of whatever beer you’ve got on tap.”

The bartender pointed to the selection behind him, and Sara chose one that she knew would be light enough they could have a few without feeling any effects, but wouldn’t be as tasteless as a Coors Light. 

When Sara handed Ava the glass, Ava frowned. 

“This is not water.”

“Your powers of observation are astounding,” Sara replied with a smirk.

Ava didn’t look amused. 

Sara sighed. “I promise I’ll get you a water next, but you need to relax. You’ve had a shitty week and we’re in a shitty situation. One beer isn’t going to kill you.”

Ava seemed to consider this a moment, then she took a small sip of beer. 

Sara grinned triumphantly. 

“Don’t look so smug,” Ava said, narrowing her eyes, but she took another sip, bigger this time. “It’s not bad,” she added, lifting up the beer. 

Sara smirked. “You’re welcome.”

Ava rolled her eyes. “You know there are healthier ways of dealing with stress than alcohol,” she said as Sara took a few big gulps of her own beer. 

Sara nodded. “This is true. I like this one, though.”

“I prefer a good workout. It keeps you in shape, you can hone a skill, and it’s a great way to work out frustration.”

Sara agreed, but she didn’t have to tell Ava that. “Sex does that, too,” Sara said instead. 

She was rewarded by Ava spitting out her sip of beer and choking, slightly, a blush spreading from her cheeks up to the tips of her ears. 

Ava looked at her hard for a moment, and Sara was sure that she was trying to judge if Sara had been trying to get a rise out of her or not. Sara innocently took a sip of her beer. 

“Technically, true,” Ava finally replied, in a slow, measured way. 

Sara raised an eyebrow at her in surprise. Well played, Agent Sharpe, she thought. 

They finished the rest of their first glasses of beer in an almost amicable silence, and Sara took the opportunity to survey the other patrons of the bar. It was filling up a bit since they’d first arrived, and a few people had turned an empty space towards the back near the dartboard into a bit of a dance floor.  

A little ways up the bar a cute brunette was making eyes at her over the top of a cosmopolitan. Sara grinned at her and shot her a wink. 

The girl smiled at her and scooted closer down the bar. 

Sara glanced at Ava. In theory, she supposed, it’d be rude to ditch her after she’d been the one to convince her to come out in the first place. Then again, it wasn’t like they particularly enjoyed each other’s company. 

“Care for a dance, beautiful?” a raspy voice asked, and Sara turned back to warm brown eyes and a sly smile. 

Sara smiled back, but before she had a chance to reply, Ava said, “Um, excuse you, we’re here together.”

Sara frowned. That was technically true, but not the way it sounded. 

The girl took a step back, her expression turning skeptical. “Oh, sorry, I didn’t realize you two were -”

Ava was frowning, too, now and her eyes went wide. “Oh! Oh. No. Not like that, we’re just -”

“Acquaintances,” Sara supplied when Ava hesitated. 

“Right. Work acquaintances,” Ava agreed. 

The girl looked interested and stepped closer again. “So then surely it’s not a big deal if I steal your work acquaintance for one little dance?” she suggested. 

Sara turned a smirk on Ava. “Totally not a big deal,” she said.  

Ava looked uncomfortable and leaned in close. “Sara, I strongly advise against making any sort of a meaningful connection to people in the past. At some point it is likely that we will have to leave.”

Sara hadn’t anticipated the warmth that Ava would bring as she murmured quietly to her. She hadn’t anticipated the slight tingle of excitement as her hair brushed her cheek and her breath fell hotly on her ear, either. She ignored both. 

“I don’t think she’s looking for a meaningful connection, Ava. She hasn’t even asked for my name. Can we not have any fun just because we’re stuck here? Isn’t that why we came out tonight?” Sara whispered back. 

She turned back to the cute brunette, took several large gulps of her beer before placing it on the bar, and extended her hand, allowing the girl to take it and lead her towards the makeshift dance floor. 

“Sara. Sara!” Ava hissed after her, but Sara just made sure to put a little extra swing in her hips as she followed along. 

The girl swung her around when they’d reached the back of the bar so that they were face to face and pressed close together. Sara didn’t mind one bit. 

“Sara, is it?” the girl pushed up onto her toes to ask into Sara’s ear. Unlike with Ava, this closeness had been meant to elicit a response from Sara’s body, and she went with it. 

“Mhm,” she hummed, knowing that her dance partner would be able to feel the vibrations through her body. 

“I’m Lindsey.”

“Pleasure to make your acquaintance,” Sara replied, surprising Lindsey with a little spin before pulling her back in close. 

Lindsey grinned up at her. “Speaking of acquaintances, yours seems a little uptight.”

Sara glanced over her shoulder and caught sight of Ava glowering in their direction, shoulders rigid, spine straight. She chuckled. “That’s possibly an understatement.” 

Honestly, she was going to have to get that woman to loosen up a little or they were both going to go insane here.  

“She also,” Lindsey said, spinning them so that Sara could see Ava without turning her head, then turning around in Sara’s arms so that her back was pressed against Sara’s front, “seems to be a little jealous.”

Lindsey pressed back further as she swayed her body, her ass pressing against Sara. Sara wasn’t going to pretend it didn’t do things to her. She was momentarily distracted from Lindsey’s words, and then she processed them and balked. “No way. You’re definitely reading that wrong.” 

Yet, as she watched, Ava stiffened even more. Her eyes glared over the top of her beer, which she seemed to be drinking substantially quicker. Ava met Sara’s gaze for a moment, then looked to the ceiling annoyed. She crossed her arms and tapped her foot. 

That was when Sara realized what was really going on. Protocol. She must be breaking some damn Time Bureau protocol and it was pissing off the ever-on-duty Agent Sharpe. When was she going to give it a rest? When was she going to realize that they might be stuck here indefinitely? And even if they weren’t, were they really supposed to put living on hold?

Sara spun Lindsey back around to face her and focussed her attention on her. “Don’t you worry about my acquaintance. Let’s you and I just have a little fun.”

  
  


Two dances later Sara could practically feel Ava’s eyes burning holes into the back of her head. It was beginning to wear on her. “Thank you for the dancing, but I’d better go check in with...my work acquaintance,” Sara excused herself with a roll of her eyes. 

“It’s okay, honey. I don’t want to get in the middle of anything,” Lindsey replied with a smile and a wink. 

“No, there’s nothing to get in the middle of,” Sara assured her, but it was clear from Lindsey’s answering shrug that she didn’t believe that at all. 

_ Dammit, Ava Sharpe! _ Sara thought as she marched back over to her. 

“Listen up, we came here to RELAX and have FUN, not to act like we have major sticks up our butts while holding up the bar,” Sara declared when she reached her. “Now I am going to have a second drink, and when I’m done, you are going to put your drink down and come and dance with me since your sulkfest about whatever regulation you think I was breaking scared off my last dance partner.”

“But- I- What?” Ava spluttered. 

Sara ignored her and caught the bartender’s eye. 

“Same again?” he asked. 

Sara nodded and put her money down on the counter.  “You should have a second, too,” she said over her shoulder. 

Ava looked guilty. 

“Ava Sharpe, are you already almost done with your second drink?” Sara asked, a little surprised. 

“Well, you ditched me for a pretty face, so what else did I have to do?” Ava replied defensively. 

“I ditched you an in attempt to enjoy myself. You could have done the same. There are these things here at the bar, they’re called ‘people’ and if you talk to them sometimes they talk back. That’s what’s called a conversation.”

Ava narrowed her eyes. “Very funny.”

Sara smirked. She’d been amused. 

The bartender set her drink down on the bar and Sara picked it up and pounded it, thirstily. It was too good of a beer to be chugged, really, but she needed the alcohol if she was going to survive the night with Ava. Maybe their next drink should be shots, she mused. 

“You might want to slow down, there. No getting drunk, remember?” Ava said. 

“I’m just catching up with you, Agent,” Sara replied. 

“Don’t call me that,” Ava muttered, glancing around to make sure that nobody had heard. 

“You do know that there are agents of other things besides time, right? It’s not suspicious until you make it suspicious.”

“Just...Call me Ava, please.” 

Sara sighed and rolled her eyes. She polished off her beer and set the empty glass on the bar, then she took Ava’s glass out of her hand and left it on the bar, too. 

“You need to loosen up. Come on. Let’s go break whatever regulations you guys have about dancing.” 

Sara took Ava’s hand and led her to the dance floor. Much to her surprise, Ava followed her rather willingly. 

“Just so you know, there are no regulations about dancing,” Ava informed her, as they came to a stop on the dancefloor and Sara turned to face her.  

“Doesn’t it count as fraternization or something?” Sara asked. 

“Interagency fraternization is frowned upon, but not outright banned, and even if it were, you are not, nor could you ever be, a time agent,” Ava said in a low voice that made her lean in close to be heard over the music. 

Sara knew that that had been meant as an insult, but she took pride in that fact. “Amen,” she replied. 

She took Ava’s closeness as an invitation to place her hands on Ava’s hips. The slight sway that Ava had begun was not going to loosen her up in the slightest. Neither was the way that Ava stiffened at the touch. Sara rolled her eyes and gave a little push on one hip. “You gotta loosen up if we’re gonna dance, Ava.”

Ava took a deep breath, but began to move in time with the music.

“Now you’re getting it,” Sara said with a grin, leaving her hands on Ava’s waist. 

“I DO know how to dance,” Ava grumbled. 

“But not what to do with your hands, though, apparently,” Sara replied, not remotely convinced. 

Ava glared and put her hands tentatively on Sara’s shoulders. 

Sara chuckled. “Are we at a middle school dance? Come on.”

She moved in even closer so that the movement of her body forced Ava’s to match her rhythm, and Ava’s hands naturally fell to her sides. 

“Why do I feel like you’re getting some sick kind of enjoyment in trying to make me feel uncomfortable?” Ava demanded. 

Sara rolled her eyes and backed off just a little, loosening her hold on Ava’s hips. “Are you really not enjoying yourself at all?”

Ava ducked her head and didn’t respond, but Sara caught a faint flush to her cheeks and she didn’t move away. 

Sara would take it. It was a start. 

  
  
  


By far the most enjoyable time she’d had with Ava so far was drunk midnight snack time. 

It was downright fun. Not a word she’d normally associate with one Ava Sharpe. 

But drunk Ava...Well, drunk Ava was actually kind of hilarious. 

“Sooo much cheeeeeese,” Ava sighed as she tore a mozzarella stick in two and watched the cheese stretch out between the halves. 

“Somewhere out there I am eating a strict diet for sustenance not pleasure, making minimal impact. I am so missing out,” Sara said, snatching one half of the mozzarella stick and popping it into her mouth, strings of cheese dangling out from between her lips. It probably wasn’t her most attractive look, but she was just with Ava, so what did she care? 

“Heeeey!” Ava protested. “I was watching that!”

Sara giggled as she shoved the stray strings of cheese into her mouth. “You’re supposed to be eating it.”

“Well, I would have eventually. Once I’d seen how far the cheese could stretch.”

“I’m not giving it back,” Sara declared. 

Ava pouted, furrowing her eyebrows and sticking out her lower lip. 

“It’s in my stomach. You don’t want it back.”

Ava considered this. “Point. It’s a pointy point.”

Sara giggled again. 

Shots had clearly been a good idea. That had been what had finally made Ava relax her shoulders and start to smile. The woman could hold her liquor, too. Sara was impressed. She hadn’t started showing signs of being tipsy until Sara was feeling the effects of the alcohol herself. 

And Ava had been right about knowing how to danc _ e.  _ Once she had loosened up, so did her movements, and Sara had to admit that it had had a bit of an effect on her. It wasn’t like she’d forgotten how annoying Ava was most of the time, or like she suddenly wanted to jump into bed with her, but she could definitely see her attractiveness. The way her body had felt against hers on the dance floor, it didn’t take nearly as large a leap of the imagination as she would have previously thought to imagine what Ava Sharpe might be like in bed. 

Sara felt her body flush with heat. Must be the alcohol, she decided, reaching past Ava to take a whole mozzarella stick. 

“Whoever invented these is a genius,” Ava declared. 

“I can’t believe you didn’t let me get the cheesy fries, too,” Sara replied. 

“We are out of money,” Ava pointed out. 

“Now look who’s making pointy points,” Sara pouted. 

Ava thought for a second then her whole face brightened and she sat up straight. “Me! I did!”

Sara dissolved into laughter again. She couldn’t believe she was actually thinking this word in relation to Ava Sharpe, but she was actually kind of...adorable?

She shook her head and focussed on the gooey, cheesy deliciousness of the mozzarella stick that she was devouring. 

“No?” Ava asked, looking confused and deflating slightly. “Not me?”

It took Sara’s alcohol-addled mind a moment to catch up. “Oh! No. Yes! It was you! I wasn’t shaking my head at you.”

Ava perked up again, but she still looked confused. She peered around from side to side. “Is someone else here?”

Sara laughed. She sure was doing that a lot tonight. “Me. I’m here. I was shaking my head at me.”

Ava looked surprised. “Isn’t that my job?”

“Seems like usually,” Sara agreed. 

“No taking my job, Captain Lance,” Ava warned with a wag of her finger. 

“I thought I could never be a time agent,” Sara challenged. 

Ava thought for a long minute. “I mean, I probably wouldn’t hire you, but...you have…qualities that aren’t all bad.”

“Wow. What a glowing recommendation,” Sara said sarcastically. The truth was, though, that it wasn’t the complete dismissal she expected. “Qualities, huh?”

“Well, your team respects you even if I don’t, so you must have SOME good leadership skills.”

“You really know how to give a girl a compliment,” Sara replied. 

Ava rolled her eyes. “Like you need me fawning all over you like the girl at the start of the night. You know you’re gorgeous, it’s not like I have to tell you.”

Sara’s eyebrows went up in surprise as she looked at Ava. Slowly a smirk crept across her face. Ava thought she was gorgeous? 

It seemed to take Ava a few moments to realize exactly what she’d just said and then her eyes went wide.

“Doesn’t mean I don’t find you incredibly frustrating, of course.”

Sara smirked wider. “Of course,” she agreed. Of course, there was more than one way to frustrate someone, and some of them could be quite fun. 

Ava ate another mozzarella stick, her cheeks flushed a pale pink. “Right, well, I’m going to go to sleep.”

“Awww, but you’re cute when you’re flustered!” Sara protested as Ava got to her feet. 

“I’m not flustered. I’m tired. And a little tipsy,” Ava corrected. 

“The word you’re looking for is drunk. And on that note, you should drink some water before bed,” Sara advised. 

“Not drunk,” Ava protested, but the little pout that accompanied her words only served to prove otherwise. “S’against the rules.”

Sara got to her feet and brushed a strand of hair out of Ava’s face. “Honey, we might be here a while. Screw protocol.”

Ava’s cheeks flushed a slightly brighter shade of pink, and she looked down. “Well, I guess we’ll see,” she replied before going to the bathroom and shutting the door. 

Maybe, just maybe, Sara thought, there were worse people to be stranded in time with. 

After all, it could’ve been Gary. 


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sara is cheeky. Ava tries to more annoyed than she actually is.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have 12 chapters roughly plotted out for this, now, so that's hopefully going to be it's length! I hope you enjoy!

As fun as drunk Ava had been, hungover Ava was a horrible price to pay. 

“One rule. I gave you ONE rule before we went out.”

Sara rolled her eyes. “You gave me one rule to start and five more on the way, first of all. Secondly, I did not force the drinks down your throat. Be mad at yourself.”

Ava groaned. “I am.”

Sara sighed heavily, not for the first time that morning. “Look, did anything bad happen?”

“I’m pretty sure I embarrassed myself on the dance floor, and then, you know, here, talking to you,” Ava countered, her cheeks flushing with color. 

Sara smirked slightly, but it only earned her a glare, so she tried to suppress it. “You didn’t embarrass yourself on the dancefloor once you loosened up,” Sara said. 

“Says you,” Ava argued. 

“Says anyone at the bar who happened to be looking.”

“How do you know? Did you take a poll last night? ‘Hi, do you see my friend dancing over there? How would you rate her dance skills on a scale from one to ten?’” Ava was clearly attempting to do an imitation of her. It was not a good one. 

“I don’t sound anything like that.”

Ava harrumphed and crossed her arms across her chest. 

Sara closed her eyes and pinched the bridge of her nose, trying to massage away her own hint of a hangover. A word from Ava’s imitation struck a chord in her brain. “So we’re friends now?” she asked, looking up at Ava sprawled dramatically on the bed across from her. 

“What?” Ava asked grumpily. 

“You just implied we were friends in your poor imitation of me.”

“I sounded exactly like you, and...I don’t know. I guess. We’re not exactly the work acquaintances we presented ourselves as last night if we’ve been living together for three weeks. We’re at the very least roommates.”

“Out of necessity, but okay, true,” Sara conceded. 

“And we did go out drinking and dancing together,” Ava added.

“Aww, so you think of me as your friend?” Sara grinned smugly. 

Ava groaned and covered her face with her hand.  “You know what? I take it back. Add that to my list of regrets related to last night.”

Sara laughed, but relented. “Okay, I’m sorry. You’re right. We’re...friends. Of a sort, anyway. And for at least another few weeks until we get some money saved away-”

“Which will not happen if we do a lot more nights like last night,” Ava pointed out. 

Sara ignored her and continued, “-we will keep being roommates.”

Ava nodded, and groaned again because of the movement. 

Sara sighed. “I’ll get you some ibuprofen.”

Ava grunted something that sounded vaguely like a thank you. 

Friends. Sara mulled the word over as she went into the bathroom. Well, that was...something. She wasn’t sure what exactly, but it didn’t sound wrong. Friends. She could do that.

  
  
  


The day had finally arrived. Today they were going to move out of their shithole motel and into their respective apartments. They weren’t really the biggest steps up in terms of location or size, but at least they’d both have their own space, AWAY from each other. That would be heavenly. 

And yet, Sara found herself a little reluctant to officially leave their shared space. She was DEFINITELY happy to not be kept awake by Ava’s snoring anymore. And she wouldn’t mind not having to listen to her groan about work everyday, either. And she could certainly live without the snide comments about her team, even if half the time they were kind of accurate. 

Still, it was nice having someone to come home to. It wasn’t like there was anyone else in 2011 that she could talk to about where they were really from or who she really was. Being with Ava was like a reminder that the adventures she had had were real and out there, somewhere in time, waiting for her to get back to.

And, okay, Ava had maybe, sort of, officially bridged into friend territory. At least, they’d found ways to talk without it devolving into bickering ALL the time or requiring alcohol. What if moving away from each other changed that. Would she lose the only real friend she had in 2011? The people she’d met at work or even on nights out didn’t really cut it when she couldn’t let them in on such a massive part of her life. 

“You want to have dinner tonight?”

The question popped out before she could really think about it. 

Ava looked at her in surprise. “We’re finally getting our own spaces and you’re inviting me to dinner?”

Sara felt a little self-conscious, but she didn’t want to let it show. “Do you suddenly not have to eat just because we’re not living together? Are you secretly a robot? That WOULD explain a lot.”

Ava narrowed her eyes at her. “I am NOT a robot, and I do still need to eat, yes.” 

“And have you suddenly formed a lot of friendships I don’t know about?” Sara asked. “Or do you enjoy eating alone?”

“I can’t tell if you’re trying to get me to say no, or you genuinely think insulting me is going to get me to say yes,” Ava said, tilting her head to the side in a not unattractive way. 

Not that Sara noticed.  

Sara took a deep breath and tried again. “I just meant that we’re moving, but we can still eat together. Sometimes. We still have to come up with a plan to get home, right? So, we should still probably spend SOME time together.”

Ava considered this for a second. “I wouldn’t hate that,” she conceded. 

Sara rolled her eyes. “So glad you’ve learned not to hate my company,” she deadpanned. 

“No, I mean...That would be...nice. And you’re right, of course. We do still need to come up with an actionable plan.”

“It would help if we had spare energy and more overlapping time,” Sara said. 

“Yes, but unfortunately our paychecks are a necessity at this juncture,” Ava replied. “We are, I think it’s safe to say, doing the best with the circumstances we’ve been left in.”

Sara raised an eyebrow at her. “Both of us?” 

Ava gave her a look which let her know that she knew exactly what she was asking. “Yes. I believe so.”

“Aww, that may be the nicest thing you’ve ever said to me, Agent Sharpe.”

Ava straightened and adjusted her shirt, clearing her throat in an uncomfortable kind of way. “Yes, well, don’t get used to it. I’m sure you’ll screw this up somehow.”

“There’s the Ava I know and tolerate!” Sara declared. She hesitated, then, but she hadn’t gotten an answer, and the familiar pattern of their exchange had only served to remind Sara that she didn’t want to be alone. “So about dinner…?”

Ava raised an eyebrow at her and studied her for a second. “Yeah. Sure. Why not?”

  
  
  


“M’Lady,” Sara said, holding the door to Ava’s building open for her and gesturing for her to go through. 

Ava rolled her eyes, but walked through the door anyway. “You know this is practically going to be a strategy meeting, right? This is not a date.”

“Sorry, didn’t realize holding the door was against regulations. I’ll be sure not to next time,” Sara replied sarcastically. “You know some people would’ve said thank you?”

Ava looked a little sheepish. It was almost cute. “Thank you,” she muttered. 

“You’re welcome,” Sara said with a gracious bow. 

“We do need to come up with a plan, though,” Ava said. 

“To be able to afford pots and pans in my new apartment? I agree,” Sara said as they began to stroll down sidewalk. They weren’t touching, exactly, but they were walking close enough that their elbows bumped from time to time, and Sara didn’t exactly mind that. Ava didn’t pull away from the contact either, she noted. 

Ava sighed. “You KNOW that’s not what I meant.”

“I do know,” Sara agreed, “but I wouldn’t want to accidentally let a passerby on the street know our secret.”

As she said that, a young man walking past eyed them curiously. 

Sara gestured over her shoulder after he’d passed. As if to say, “See? Told ya.”

The truth was that she had a plan to get home. What she did NOT yet have a plan for was getting Ava to agree to her plan. She’d thought for weeks and the only logical way to make sure her team got the message and could come find them was to create an anachronism. 

Ava sighed. “Fine. You’re right.”

Sara gasped. “Did that hurt??”

Ava looked confused. “What?”

Sara smirked. “Admitting I was right.”

Ava stopped walking, dramatically threw her head back, and groaned. “Oh my GOD! Sometimes you’re really impossible, do you know that?”

Sara grinned. “Yet here you are coming out to dinner with me. Is it just because you find me so unbelievably attractive?” she asked with a wink. 

Ava did not look amused, but, unless Sara was very mistaken, there was the hint of a blush on her cheeks. Instead of answering, Ava started walking again, bumping Sara in the shoulder as she pushed past. 

“I’m taking your silence as a yes,” Sara informed her, looking smug as she followed after her. 

“Of course you are,” Ava muttered. 

Sara couldn’t help noticing that that still wasn’t a no.

They walked on in silence towards the pizza place they’d found early on in their stay in 2011. The pizza always had the perfect balance of sauce and cheese, on a beautifully thin crust. It was one of the very first things they’d actually agreed on, and had the bonus of being close enough they could easily walk. 

Fortunately, it was still walking distance from their new buildings. 

“Do you think they think we’re dead?” Ava asked, catching Sara off guard. 

“What?”

“They’ve made no attempt to get back to us that we’re aware of. There has been no sign of attempted contact. They’d have been quite safe in their window to not potentially overlap with themselves by now. And we did run off without comms into a situation that did NOT look good.”

Sara shook her head. “I’ve been dead way too many times for my team to believe I’d stay that way,” she joked, but there was an element of truth in what she said. Her team wouldn’t just assume. It did raise some serious questions, though. Questions that she was DEFINITELY going to be asking whenever she finally did get home. “Zari probably broke Gideon and stranded them in the temporal zone or something,” Sara added, attempting to be comforting. 

“That doesn’t explain why nobody at the bureau has come looking,” Ava replied. 

“Aren’t we acceptable losses to them? It’s probably too much red tape for anyone to bother,” Sara assured her.

Ava sighed. “I guess there are some benefits to the way the Legends do things.”

Sara frowned as she held the door to the pizza place open for Ava. (This time, Sara noted, Ava didn’t protest.) “Are you feeling okay, Ava? Do you have a fever?”

She stepped inside after her and put her hand on Ava’s forehead. 

Ava stepped back with an annoyed look on her face. “What are you on about now?”

“I don’t want to worry you, but I believe you just actually complimented the Legends,” Sara informed her in as serious a tone as she could muster given that she was repressing laughter. 

Ava rolled her eyes and told the hostess they wanted a table for two before turning back to Sara with her arms crossed. “Why did I agree to dinner again?”

Sara grinned. “Because you think I’m hot.”

Ava narrowed her eyes. “I never said that.”

“You thought it,” Sara replied. 

“Oh? I suppose you can read minds now?” 

Sara shrugged and winked. “Yep and yours is so much dirtier than I’d have thought.”

“Oh my god, I’m leaving,” Ava muttered, taking a step towards the door. Her voice was annoyed but there was no doubt about the blush on her cheeks this time. 

Could it be possible that uptight Agent Sharpe actually might be interested in Sara? On a physical level, anyway. Sara had no delusions about what Ava thought of her personality. 

Not that it mattered, obviously. Sara wasn’t going to do anything with Ava. She wasn’t even interested in her...not really, anyway. Okay, Sara had eyes, and getting to see Ava a lot more had only reinforced that she was an incredibly beautiful woman, but that didn’t mean anything. 

So why was she getting the urge to flirt? It wasn’t like she wanted to follow the flirtation anywhere. It was almost just to see how Ava would react. Which was stupid and childish, or at least she was sure that Ava would see it that way. 

And maybe Ava wouldn’t exactly be wrong on that front. 

She should stop. 

“Don’t go, don’t go,” Sara said. “Come on. I promise to behave through food.”

“I believe you, but only because I’ve seen you eat and your mouth will be far too occupied with the food for you to talk,” Ava replied, turning away from the door and back to Sara. 

Sara tilted her head to the side and smirked. “Do you spend a lot of time thinking about ways to occupy my mouth?”

Ava’s face turned bright red this time, and she turned right back to the door. 

Sara caught her wrist before she could leave, and turned her around again. “Okay, okay. I’m sorry. I couldn’t resist. You are just so easy to rile up.”

Ava set her shoulders back and cleared her throat. Some of the redness began to fade from her cheeks. “I’m not riled up,” she argued. “And since when do you flirt with me? I’m not some girl you can pick up at a bar.”

“I’m not flirting,” she countered. Not really. Not with any intent behind it, which was what mattered. “But if I was,” she murmured to Ava as the hostess gestured for them to follow and led them to their seats, “maybe I just like a challenge.”

She shot Ava a wink as they took their seats at a table towards the back. 

Ava smiled politely at the hostess and thanked her for the menu, then turned narrowed eyes on Sara as soon as he hostess had walked away. “Suddenly this feels like it is going to be the longest meal ever.”


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ava and Sara's dynamic starts to shift.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I'm going to be having family visits happening on and off from now through early August, which means less writing time. I just finished this chapter this morning, which means there's no buffer chapter I can post if it takes me a while to write the next one. I Have 2 chapters of ISMFIYE, 1 of a new Avalance AU, and 2 of a mad archer (ouat - Robin/Alice) AU, that I can post during that time, but I can't promise how long updates will take from then. It all depends on how much writing I can squeeze in in-between family and excursions, etc... Anyway, I'll do my best to keep you entertained, and hopefully you'll enjoy my other stories, too, so that you won't get bored waiting for updates. I hope you'll all stick with me.

“So you were Peter Pan in your school play? How did I not know this before?” Ava laughed. 

“What, that tidbit wasn’t in my bureau file?” Sara teased. 

“Sadly, no! I’d have insisted on pictures if it was,” Ava said, taking a sip of her red wine. 

“Not on your life,” Sara replied. 

“So pictures do exist,” Ava concluded with a wicked grin.

“Not anywhere that you are ever going to see them,” Sara assured her. 

Ava smirked. “I dunno. I’m a time agent. I have resources.”

“I’m pretty sure that would be against regulations,” Sara pointed out. This might very well be the first time she had ever appreciated the amount of red tape at the Time Bureau. 

“Did you just cite regulations against me?” Ava asked. 

“Yes. Yes, I did,” Sara replied smugly. 

“I think I’m a little impressed,” Ava said, sitting back and looking at her with something approaching respect. “Are you feeling okay, though?” she asked, leaning forward across the table and putting her hand on Sara’s forehead, mimicking the way Sara had done it earlier. 

Sara laughed and sat back out of reach. “I’m fine. Maybe you’ve just been a good influence on me or something.”

“Yeah, or you’ve been a bad one on me. I mean I’m the one contemplating breaking regulations to get my hands on that photo. I feel like it would kind of be worth it.”

Sara laughed again. 

Dinner, despite Ava almost walking out before they were seated, was proving remarkably pleasant. It was hardly their first meal out together in the two months they’d been stranded, but usually there was more bickering or there were longer extended silences. Maybe it was just knowing that they had their own spaces to go home to tonight that took the stress off of their interactions. 

“I think maybe you could use the bad influence,” Sara informed her. 

Ava raised an eyebrow at her as she bit into another slice of pizza. “Oh yeah?” she asked, mouth still full, as she tucked a few stray strands of cheese into her mouth. 

Sara nodded. “For instance. That night I dragged you out to the bar and you actually loosened up and had some drinks? Tell me that wasn’t the most fun you’ve had the whole time we’ve been here.”

Ava considered this for a moment, her face contorting as she did so. “It was a pretty enjoyable night,” she conceded. 

“Know what that tells me? Tells me we should do it again sometime,” Sara replied. “Drinking, dancing, loosening up. You and me.”

Ava shook her head and looked down. “We got lucky the first time that we didn’t let anything slip about the future while we were under the influence. It’s not a risk we should take again.”

Sara grinned. Ava had not phrased that the way she’d anticipated, and she took that as a good sign. “Not a risk we SHOULD take again?”

Ava’s eyes flicked up, but her head stayed angled at her plate so that she was eying Sara through long lashes. She really was beautiful, Sara had to admit. 

“So we might even though we maybe shouldn’t?” Sara prompted with a smirk. 

Ava shook her head again, but smiled. “Maybe,” she finally conceded. “For a little fun. But no shots next time.”

“I make no promises,” Sara replied, feeling victorious. 

“Ugh, why is it so hard for you to follow simple rules?”

Sara shrugged. “It’s not, depending on how reasonable I find the rule.”

Ava straightened slightly. “You think I’m being unreasonable by wanting to ensure that the future stays in tact?”

“That wasn’t what I said,” Sara replied. 

“You heavily implied it,” Ava countered. 

Sara sighed. Ava was tensing up and preparing for a fight that Sara was never trying to have. Why couldn’t interactions between them stay simple? Why did everything always have to turn into a fight? What they needed to do was fight their way home, not fight each other. 

“It wasn’t what I meant. Honest,” she said. 

Ava’s shoulders relaxed slightly. “So, IF we do go out dancing and drinking again…?”

“When,” Sara correcting, prompting Ava to roll her eyes.

“How likely are you to ditch me for the first pretty face that hits on you?” Ava looked up and stared her in the eye, like she was issuing a challenge, though Sara wasn’t quite sure what that challenge might be. 

“As tempting as the idea of getting laid is after two months of living in celibacy without so much as a hug for physical affection,” Sara said, and Ava nodded her agreement, “I promise not to ditch you.”

“Thank you,” Ava said. 

“Unless they’re a ten. Then -”

“Hey!” Ava protested, throwing a piece of crust from her plate  at Sara, who dissolved into laughter. 

“Kidding! Kidding.”

Ava tried not to look amused and failed.   

Sara smirked at her, eyes straying over Ava as a thought struck her. It was stupid. And maybe she’d had too much wine, although she wasn’t really feeling buzzed. But it was possible that Ava Sharpe was actually a ten. 

...With her hair down. And a smile on her face.  

...In the right light.

“You can be a jerk, you know,” Ava said, but unlike their exchanges when they’d first been stranded, there was no venom behind it. Instead it was almost affectionate. 

“I know,” Sara confirmed with a grin. Something felt different tonight, like a change in their relationship. Maybe they were starting to be actual friends, not just forced into it by circumstances. That might be...pleasant. It was not the night, Sara decided, to broach the subject of her plan to get home. Another night, maybe, but for now she just wanted to enjoy them mostly getting along.  

Ava took a deep breath and looked down at their empty plates and mostly empty drinks. Their bill had been paid for the better part of an hour, and Sara could tell what she was about to say. 

“I suppose we should get going. I do have work tomorrow, after all.”

“So do I,” Sara agreed, ignoring the slight disappointment she felt at the idea of going home to an empty apartment. HER apartment, she reminded herself. Her OWN space. Just like she’d been dying for since they got here. 

Ava scoffed at her. “Yeah, but you don’t have to be at work until seven at night.”

“It’s still work,” she retorted with a grin. “And it’s still tomorrow.”

Ava rolled her eyes, but there was a small smile on her face. She stood up and gathered her coat and her purse, and waited for Sara to stand before they made their way to the door. 

They paused outside, slipping on their coats against the chill in the night air. 

“Want me to walk you home?” Sara offered.

Ava laughed. “I think I can handle any trouble I might encounter,” she replied, making a muscle. 

Sara laughed, too. It wasn’t like both of them weren’t more than capable fighters. Not that they’d really encountered much trouble since they’d gotten to the area, after the anachronism that got them stranded had been sorted out. She’d more been thinking for company, but that was silly. “Right, well...Goodnight.”

Ava nodded. “Goodnight.”

Sara turned and took a few steps away. 

“Hey, maybe we should make this a weekly thing?” Ava suggested, stopping Sara in her tracks. 

Sara turned back to her, curiously. “Yeah. I’d like that. Just catch up. Discuss ideas. Discuss plans to get home.”

“Right. Exactly. I mean, obviously we can see each other at other times, too, I just mean...It’d be good to have a regularly scheduled check in. It doesn’t have to be here every time, either.”

“Take out at your apartment or mine would allow more freedom to talk about certain things,” Sara pointed out.

“My thoughts exactly,” Ava agreed. 

“And then don’t forget about our dancing date,” Sara said with a wink. 

The instantaneous blush on Ava’s cheeks was...interesting. And annoyingly attractive. “Not a date.”

“Hmmm...booze, dancing, and I promised not to go flirt with anyone else...That kind of sounds like a date,” Sara teased. 

To her delight, Ava turned a darker shade of pink and tucked her hair behind her ears in a flustered kind of way. 

“You’re so obnoxious,” Ava muttered, but her body language did not say that at all. 

Sara grinned. “I’ll pick up takeout for dinner next week on my night off and meet at your place at...sixish?” Sara suggested. 

Ava nodded. “Yeah, okay. That sounds good.”

“Great. We can talk more about our date then!” Sara said with a wicked grin before turning on her heels and walking off. 

“It’s not a date!” Ava called after her. Sara paused before she rounded the corner and glanced back at Ava. She was rolling her eyes and turning away. 

Okay, maybe she was a ten in any light, Sara conceded. 

Not that that meant anything. 

  
  


Sara had meant to tell Ava about her plan by now. She really had. She’d meant to that very second dinner over Chinese takeout at Ava’s apartment. She’d meant to mention it the week after over Indian food at her place, too. Last week they’d eaten out, so it just wasn’t practical to say anything about time travel and anachronisms. 

This week she was going to. She’d resolved to. She needed to. 

It wasn’t like they didn’t talk about going home. They’d made a fairly complete list of all monuments in the area that remained unchanged in 2017, all museums with long running exhibits that would still be open in 2017, and all buildings still standing unrenovated in 2017. They had crafted and recrafted what their message might say so many times that Sara had wanted to pull her hair out. 

The same problem remained: how to ensure that her team or a member of the Time Bureau would get eyes on it. For that matter, if the Time Bureau DID see it, how they ensure that their request for rescue didn’t get caught in some B.S. red tape purgatory. 

Inevitably Sara and Ava give up and move on to other topics. 

Ava would complain about whatever customers had been over-the-top annoying that week. She still hated her job, but the store manager had quit and she’d applied for the job, so they were keeping their fingers crossed. 

Sara would regale her with tales about an amusing drunk or an asshole she’d had to put in his place. She still didn’t mind her job, but it was no captaining the Waverider. 

She missed Amaya and her wisdom and friendship. She missed Nate and his dorky movie references and easy smile. She missed the two of them and their stupid, gushy romance. She missed Zari and her sharp sarcasm. She missed Mick and his always being down for a drink. She missed Ray and his never ending optimism. She missed Jax and his willingness to turn to her for guidance. She missed Stein and his oh-so-proper speech patterns. She even missed Gideon and her occasionally lippy help. 

She missed having people - a real team. She missed her family. 

“I got the job!” Ava exclaimed excitedly without so much as a ‘hello’ when she opened the door. She pulled Sara into a hug with a little squeal and Sara stiffened. Ava seemed to realize what she was doing and almost jumped back to break the hug, but she still looked practically giddy. 

“Congratulations!” Sara said, doing her best to ignore the way that the warmth from Ava’s touch seemed to linger far longer than it should have on her arms. 

“Thanks. I know it’s about a gazillion steps down from where I was at the Bureau, but it still feels good.”

“Hey, don’t knock your accomplishments. You’ve survived three months of retail hell and now you’re getting a pay bump and a new title! That’s awesome!”

Sara was only slightly surprised to find that there was not an ounce of insincerity in her words. The way her feelings were changing for Ava were shocking her less and less.

Not that they were serious. Obviously. It was just, well, Sara had eyes and Ava was pretty damn attractive. It had been a while, now, too, since her last hookup with anyone. 

It wasn’t that opportunities hadn’t presented themselves since they’d landed themselves in 2011, it was just that Sara had never found herself motivated to follow through. It might have had something to do with the fact that she didn’t know she’d be able to jet out of there before anything got serious. That was maybe something she should delve into about herself. At another time, that was. One when she WASN’T stranded in time. 

“So what’d you bring for dinner?” Ava asked. “Because I hope it goes with champagne!”

Sara chuckled. “You splurged, huh?”

“I did! I can’t help it.”

“Hey, you deserve a celebration!”

Ava smiled at her. “Thanks.”

Sara had noticed recently that Ava’s smiles were more filled with warmth than they ever had been before. When they’d first gotten here, any smiles shot her way were tentative and reserved. This smile made Sara’s chest feel slightly tight and reached all the way to Ava’s eyes. 

“So? Dinner?” Ava prompted again. 

“Oh, right,” Sara said, shaking herself out of her thoughts. “I went with Thai,” she said holding up the bag of takeout she’d picked up on the way over. 

“Yum!” 

They set about opening the food and serving themselves then settled at the table with overflowing plates and a glass of champagne each. 

“To your promotion!” Sara declared, holding up her glass. 

Ava grinned back at her and raised her glass to touch Sara’s with a small *clink*. 

“How was your week?” Ava asked after taking a sip of champagne. 

Sara shrugged. “Same old. Drunk guys. A few assholes. One proposal.”

“Wait, what?” Ava asked, brows furrowing. 

Sara couldn’t help the smirk that formed on her face. “Oh it was very romantic. He got down on one knee and offered me the tab off his beer can as a ring.”

Ava chuckled. “You said no, right?”

“Why? You worried you have competition for my affections?” Sara teased. She watched Ava closely for a reaction and smirked a little wider. 

Ava made a face and shook her head and said, “What? No!”, but her voice sounded a little strangled and her cheeks flushed a little pink, and suddenly she wasn’t quite making eye contact. 

Sara had been noticing things like this more and more recently, and it gave her a little thrill to see. Not that she’d act on Ava’s attraction. Besides, her own attraction was purely physical. Probably that’s all it was with Ava, too. It would be unprofessional to do anything about it, even if it wouldn’t really mean anything. 

“You know, I’m a little offended you’d even ask if I’d accepted his proposal,” Sara said. 

Ava rolled her eyes. “I mean of course I know you turned him down.”

“Uh-huh…sure.”

“No, I mean, you’re way too smart to accept a random proposal from someone you don’t even know.”

“Well, he IS a regular. I see him almost every day. I’d say I know him decently well at this point,” Sara argued, the smirk playing at her lips again. 

“Oh?” Ava asked, sounding a little less sure of herself. 

“And he’s kinda cute,” Sara informed her. 

“Oh,” Ava repeated, looking uncomfortable. 

“And maybe fifty years ago he’d have been my type,” Sara supplied, barely holding back laughter. 

Ava’s expression turned confused. “What?”

Sara giggled. “He’s like eighty. It took two people to help him back to his feet after I let him down easy,” Sara explained. 

Ava laughed. “You had me going there for a second.”

Sara grinned. “I could tell,” she replied, holding Ava’s gaze a second longer than was comfortable.

They both looked away and turned their attention to their meals. 

“So tell me more about your promotion,” Sara said around a mouthful of pad thai, eyes glued to her fork picking at her food. 

“Well...small raise, more responsibilities, more closing and opening shifts, and I’ll have to attend occasional regional manager meetings. My new schedule starts next week.”

“Wait, new schedule? Does that mean no weekly dinners?” Sara asked, hoping her disappointment didn’t show in her voice. She ignored the knots suddenly twisting in her gut. 

“No! I made sure I wouldn’t have to close on Wednesdays.”

Sara swallowed down the emotion that sentence provoked in her. It didn’t really mean anything, she told herself. Of course it didn’t. 

She needed to change gears. Again. 

“Good because we still need to schedule our date,” she teased. 

Ava rolled her eyes and sighed heavily. “Not this again. Not a date. Just drinks and dancing.”

“Sounds like a date to me.” 

Sara’s teasing was somewhat undermined by the fact that Ava said the exact same words at the exact same time in imitation of her. 

Sara stuck out her tongue and Ava chuckled.

“Mature,” she muttered. 

Sara grinned. 

“So have you given any thought to when and where we should try to send a message to 2017 this week?”

_ Yes,  _ she thought. “No. Been pretty busy. Gotta survive here to eventually get back, right?”

“True,” Ava conceded. 

They were celebrating Ava’s promotion tonight, Sara told herself. That’s why it wasn’t the right night to bring up her plan. Next week she’d say something. Next week, for sure. 


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sara considers the possibility of feelings and Sara and Ava find a bit of trouble.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Trigger warnings for this chapter for slurs against women and violence. Sara and Ava take care of it, though, don't worry.

It wasn’t exactly a fancy place, but it was maybe a step up from their usual joints, which was to say that there were flickering fake candles on the tables and the menus weren’t just laminated pieces of paper. It was on a cute little pedestrian area they’d found which had various shops and eateries and a few bars located along a stretch of cobblestone pavement a few blocks long.  

They’d gotten seated surprisingly quickly, given how crowded the place was (which they hoped was a good sign about the food, since it was only Wednesday), at a small table near the bar. It was a little loud, but they knew when they’d opted to eat out that they weren’t going to be talking time travel tonight. 

“I’m starving!” Ava declared. 

“Same,” Sara agreed, opening the menu. It was horrible to go to a restaurant when you were ridiculously hungry, she decided. First there was the smell of the food wafting at her from other tables that bumped her up from hungry to ravenous. Then there was the way that every single item on the menu made her mouth water. How could she possibly be expected to pick just one when she wanted to order everything? 

“Ugh, it all looks good. I can’t decide!” Ava complained, and for a split second Sara wondered if maybe she’d been reading her mind. 

“I’m having the same problem,” Sara said. 

“How about we each get something and then share both so we at least get two things instead of just one?” 

Sharing food was not necessarily Sara’s forte, but that idea definitely sounded enticing. “Okay. Deal.” 

By the time the waitress came to take their drink order they’d managed to come up with a food order, too, so went ahead and put it in. 

“I really hope they bring the food quickly. I didn’t get a chance to eat lunch today,” Ava lamented. 

“What? Why didn’t you tell me? We could’ve ordered appetizers!”

“We’re pushing the budget eating here in general,” Ava countered. 

“I’ve gotten some good tips this week. I could have splurged,” Sara said. 

“Well, then, I’ll have a second drink and you can pay,” Ava replied with a wink. 

Sara wanted to reply, but the wink threw her. Was that-? Had it been-? Was Ava flirting? Like, consciously flirting? “Deal,” she finally managed to reply, her mouth suddenly a bit dry. 

When the waitress showed back up with their drink order, she gulped down a few swigs of her beer. 

“So, good tips, huh? Any diamond rings this week?” Ava teased over her glass of wine. 

“Huh?” Sara asked, still feeling thrown. This wasn’t like her. She KNEW how to behave when a pretty girl flirted with her. Why was she being so weird? 

“Any more proposals?” Ava rephrased, and Sara laughed. 

“Sadly, no,” she replied. 

“Sadly?” Ava asked. “Got your eye on someone special?”

Sara studied Ava for a moment before answering. Was this more flirting? Or a genuine question? Or basic teasing that she shouldn’t read too much in to? Ava grinned at her from under long lashes. 

“Maybe I do,” Sara replied before she’d stopped to think about her answer. She probably should have gone with a less suggestive tone as she’d said it. That would’ve been good. They were not going to hook up. It wouldn’t end well. It would hurt their chances of getting home because they’d probably end up not speaking to each other. It would be incredibly stupid decision-making. 

Ava raised an eyebrow at her, and maybe it was just the lighting, but maybe there was a hint of a blush on her cheeks. “Oh? Guy or girl?”

“Wouldn’t you like to know,” Sara replied with a grin. Then she chuckled and shook her head. “No. I’m not looking for more proposals. Real relationships are too much work.”

“Yes, I’ve read about your love ‘em and leave ‘em tendencies,” Ava commented. 

“I don’t just...I mean, I’ve had a few trysts, I guess. I’ll have you know I didn’t even initiate like half of them. The women in Salem were thirsty. And the Queen of France..I tried to resist. I did.”

“So what you’re trying to tell me is that women just throw themselves at you throughout time,” Ava said, clearly skeptical. 

“Pretty much. Yep,” Sara confirmed with a smirk. 

Ava rolled her eyes. “No wonder your team never gets anything done in a straightforward way.”

“Straight is overrated,” Sara retorted with a wink, and Ava laughed. “And, hey, do you know that it’s been weeks since you’ve said anything derogatory about the Legends? I was starting to worry you’d actually come around to us.”

“Oh, never,” Ava replied, but there was a teasing grin on her face and a twinkle in her eyes as she said it. 

Sara swallowed down the sudden lump in her throat. Less flirting. Less flirting would be good. 

Less flirting back from Ava would help. 

  
  


There was less talking once the food arrived because they were both so hungry that all they wanted to do was eat. That served Sara just fine. 

She wasn’t sure when exactly Ava had stopped resisting her flirting and actually started flirting back, but there was no denying that that was what she was doing tonight. It threw Sara more than she cared to admit. 

It was one thing to flirt with someone when she knew nothing would come of it. It was something else entirely to have that person be receptive or even interested. 

Except...Could she really be interested? Maybe Ava was just trying to turn the tables on her. Maybe it was just some balance of power exercise. Sara had made her uncomfortable with the flirting in the past so she was giving her a taste of her own medicine tonight in an attempt to make Sara uncomfortable. 

That made sense.

Especially given their history. 

That didn’t feel like what was happening, though. 

“Oh my GOD, I love food,” Ava declared with a throaty moan that made warmth flood through Sara’s body. 

Sara narrowly avoided choking on her mouthful of burger.  

“You okay?” Ava asked around a mouthful of food, looking slightly concerned. 

Sara nodded and hurriedly took a sip of her beer. She was starting to wish that she’d thought to ask for water, too. 

“Come on, don’t be rude! You remember me!” 

The voice that distracted her from her internal conflict over Ava was obnoxious and slurring slightly. She didn’t have to look over to the bar to know exactly the type of guy it belonged to. She didn’t have to look over at the bar to know that whatever girl he was talking to was far more uncomfortable than Sara was. 

She looked anyway.

“Don’t be a tease! Sam’s party! Remember?” The guy was clearly a couple drinks past what he should have had. His hair had too much gel and his wrinkly polo shirt had the collar popped and even though it hadn’t been daylight for hours now and it had been a fairly gray day to begin with, he had sunglasses perched on top of his head. 

The girl he was attempting to chat up, a petite brunette with freckles spattered across her nose and cheeks, was clearly uncomfortable. She was starting to do the move that women everywhere were familiar with when faced with unwanted advances but not wanting to make a scene: she was attempting to make herself take up as little room as possible.

The guy, however, was not taking the hint. 

“Yeah, you remember!” he accused, his voice uncomfortably loud, even for the busy space. He leaned in, breathing in her face, and the girl visibly recoiled. 

Sara gripped her half of the burger tighter. She glanced across the table and saw Ava’s knuckles were white as her hands gripped her knife and fork. She had tuned into the goings-on at the bar, too. 

“I’m sorry, I don’t,” the girl was saying, turning her face away from him. Desperation was written on her features and the tension in her body was visible even at a small distance. 

“That’s okay. I’d be happy to remind you,” the guy replied, throwing his arm obliviously over her shoulder. 

She shrunk away and he gave her a hurt look and pulled her closer again. 

“Don’t get involved,” Ava hissed at her across the table. 

Sara clenched her jaw. She took a sip of beer to try to calm herself down. She knew why Ava had told her not to engage, but what if this started to get really out of hand? What if nobody else stepped in? What if the girl didn’t feel like she could stand up for herself? She shouldn’t have to suffer at his hands just because she was scared to find her voice or maybe didn’t feel safe trying to exercise it. 

Sara took a shaky breath and tried to tune out the situation at the bar. 

She watched Ava attempt to do the same across the table from her. 

They had just switched plates when the guy at the bar let his hands get a little too familiar with the girl’s ass. She tried to jump away, but the growing crowd at the bar meant that she was trapped near him. 

“Don’t be a prude! It was just a little grab!” the guy said. There was anger rising in his features and Sara knew it wasn’t a far leap from anger to violence. 

Sara clutched her knife tightly. If she threw it just right she was sure she could hit him and miss everyone else, despite the crowds.  

“Sara,” Ava warned.  

“You’re telling me you don’t want to step in?”

“Of course I want to step in!” Ava declared. “But we don’t know who they are. We don’t know who they might be in history. We should not engage. The Bureau has strict policies on -”

“Screw the Bureau! You’re not Bureau right now. You’re stranded. You’re Ava Sharpe, manager of a Whole Foods knock-off. What are Ava Sharpe’s policies on letting girls get bullied by belligerent drunk guys?”

“I’m sorry, I have to go,” the girl at the bar was saying. She was doing her best to squeeze past a group of oblivious businessmen that stood between her and the door. 

The guy was following her, reaching for her shoulder with a strong hand. 

Sara turned back to Ava with her eyebrows raised in a silent question. 

Ava took a deep breath, rolled her eyes, and sighed. “Screw it!” she declared. 

They dug through their wallets and pulled together enough cash to cover the meal that was half-eaten despite their hunger, grabbed their coats, and left in a hurry. 

Unlike the girl from the bar, they had no problem making their voices and wants heard as they pushed past the people who stood in their way. 

They broke through the small crowd of people now crowding just outside the door, and looked up and down the pedestrian pathway. About a block up they spotted the girl and the guy. She was cornered near a bar, trapped in place by a barrier and a wall with the guy blocking her only possible exit. 

“Hey!” Ava yelled as she and Sara ran over. 

Sara’s fists were already clenched and she was happy to feel the weight of the knife holstered at her ankle. Even in her relatively dull life in 2011 she hadn’t been able to shake the habit of carrying at least one weapon on her at all times. 

“Leave her alone!” Sara called out, the threat behind her words evident in her voice. 

“Back off, bitch! This has nothing to do with you!” the guy growled. He was leaning in against the poor girl from the bar, one hand above her on the wall, the other not readily visible, but Sara could only imagine where it might be from the way the girl was cringing. 

“Help!” the girl pleaded. 

Sara looked at Ava and Ava looked back. They didn’t need to say anything to know what they were both about to do. Sara gave Ava a small nod, and they moved as one. 

Ava grabbed the guy’s visible wrist and twisted it painfully behind his back. 

Sara shoved him sideways and helped the girl get a little ways away. 

“Run!” Sara urged. 

“Thank you!” the girl replied, tears in her eyes. 

Sara nodded. “Go! Now!”

The girl took off, and Sara turned back in time to see the guy stomp down painfully on Ava’s foot. 

It was enough to let Ava stop twisting his arm, but not enough to make her lose her grip entirely. 

He spun around and tried to throw a punch, but his lack of sobriety wasn’t doing him any favors, and Ava was easily able to spin him so that the punch went wide. 

“Let go, bitch!” he yelled. “You don’t know who you’re messing with!”

“An asshole?” Sara suggested. 

“Connor!” the guy yelled. “Connor!” he boomed louder, as he struggled to free his wrist from Ava’s grip while still attempting to throw wild punches with his free hand. 

A head popped out of the bar they were next to, and narrow, beady eyes took in the situation. 

“Help, Connor! Get these bitches off me!”

“Hang on, Rick! I’ll get help!”

A moment later Connor and two other guys stumbled out of the bar. 

One reached for the waistband of his pants and pulled out a gun. 

Sara saw it before Ava did, and lunged for him first. He wasn’t entirely sober, but he put up a struggle. Sara was careful to watch the trigger, but he hadn’t had a chance to get a very good grip on the gun before she’d attacked, so once she managed to gain control of his hand, it was easy to knock it against the wall until the gun clattered to the ground and she kicked it away. 

Insults were slung that only served to make Sara’s blood boil more. She had gone months without a good fight, and now here one was at her feet. 

“Fucking bitches!” one guy yelled. 

Sara’s eyes met Ava’s and she grinned right before Ava’s elbow connected sharply with the guy’s face. 

He crumpled to the ground, grabbing his nose, and the one who’d answered to the name Connor went rushing towards him. 

“Stupid whore!” the guy on the ground yelled, but the sound was muffled and it was clear he wasn’t getting back up. 

Connor glared and appeared to weigh his options. Rick was clutching his one arm, but didn’t know when to quit. Their other friend was still primed and ready to fight. All three were fuelled with enough alcohol to let it rule their decision-making. 

Grouped together they felt braver, it was clear. It didn’t make them any smarter, though.

Sara moved to Ava’s side, both stood with one foot back so their bodies were angled, giving the guys a smaller target for when they tried their next attack. Sara looked over her shoulder at Ava and Ava looked back at her. They both knew what was coming and they were more than ready. 

Rick was the first to move, running full-tilt at Ava, who used his own momentum against him, and merely pushed him into the ground, his head banging with a loud thunk. Connor and their other friend moved in on them together, slightly smarter about their attack, but Sara still had enough space to run a step before landing a flying kick square in Connor’s chest, knocking the wind out of him. She landed with ease and grabbed Ava’s hands, helping her spin her kick with more force at their other would-be assailant. He fell hard, smacking his forehead on the ground. 

“Maybe you should reconsider the way you approach women,” Sara suggested as they groaned, holding onto their various injuries.

“Or anybody,” Ava advised. 

They were down for now, but wouldn’t stay down forever, Sara knew. Out of the corner of her eye she could already see Rick trying to regroup, even though he’d be nursing some serious pain come morning. Sara knew they really should get out of there rather than let this continue any further, even as her body, pumped full of adrenaline, was itching for a bit more. 

Ava must have thought the same because she grabbed Sara’s hand and dragged her away. 

“Be good, boys!” Sara called over her shoulder, feeling practically giddy. 

God, she missed actually helping people. She used to save the world. Now she acted like a pseudo-therapist while she poured drinks. 

“You always jump headfirst into situations that could so easily turn bad!” Ava declared as they ran, but she didn’t sound the least bit annoyed.

“I think we did okay!” Sara countered, panting a bit. 

“Okay? That kick was amazing. Have you been finding time to train?”

“Gotta fill my days somehow,” Sara admitted. “You? Sharp, well-placed elbows and those blocks?”

“I’ve been doing some,” Ava replied breathlessly. 

They slowed a little, but ran a bit further until Sara spotted an alley and pulled Ava down it so they could stop and catch their breath. 

Sara leaned over and put her hands on her knees, heaving deep breaths. She looked up and caught Ava’s eye and they both started laughing. 

“God, I haven’t felt that alive since we got here!” Sara sighed.

“I know what you mean. Is it bad that I kind of didn’t want the fight to end?” Ava asked. 

Sara shook her head and stood up again. “No.” She laughed. “‘Maybe. I don’t know. I didn’t either.”

“It’s the adrenaline. We let it get the best of us,” Ava said, straightening, her face attempting something that was clearly meant to be a serious expression. The grin tugging at the corners of her mouth betrayed her. 

“We should do that more often.”

“Sara Lance, we are not going to go around picking fights with people!”

“We could vigilante,” Sara pointed out. “I know a chick,” she added with a wink.

Ava laughed and rolled her eyes, then turned serious. “No. No vigilante-ing.  We have to preserve history.”

“Okay, okay,” Sara agreed. She noticed a patch of dark red on Ava’s button-down shirt near her throat. “Are you bleeding?” 

Ava felt her throat and looked at her fingers when she pulled them away. “Yeah, the one guy had a pocket knife. Dull sucker, too, but he nicked me. Nothing big.”

Sara frowned. She felt concern welling up inside her. She should have noticed the weapon. All this time spent in 2011 was dulling her senses. “Let me see,” she instructed. 

“It’s nothing,” Ava protested, but Sara stepped forward anyway and tugged Ava’s jacket out of the way.

Ava tilted her head up and pulled aside her button up, to show Sara the small cut just above her collar bone. 

Sara pulled her sleeve over her hand and dabbed carefully around it. Ava was right. It wasn’t so bad. 

“Don’t think it’ll leave a scar. You’ll live,” Sara informed her. 

She looked up as Ava tilted her head back down, and warm blue eyes stared into hers. 

“Told you,” Ava said, voice a little huskier than usual. 

God, she was right there, and she really was unfairly attractive, especially given that they’d just been in a fight. They’d kicked ass in the fight. They made a good team. Sara leaned in without thinking about it. 

It was only when Ava leaned in, too, that Sara realized what she had been about to do. 

She pulled away quickly and took a step back for good measure, her heart racing with a whole new boost of adrenaline coursing through her system. 

She swallowed down the uncomfortable lump in her throat and looked anywhere but directly at Ava. 

“It’s a shame those assholes ruined our dinner.”

Ava cleared her throat. “Yeah. Right. I didn’t really eat enough.”

“Pizza?” Sara suggested. 

“Pizza,” Ava agreed. “Plus you still owe me that second drink.”

“Except now we’re blowing money on a second dinner.”

“Well, we just haaaad to intervene, right?”

Sara felt her cheeks flush and was glad for the dim lighting in the alley. Hopefully Ava wouldn’t notice. “We did.”

“It did feel good to help,” Ava admitted. 

“Aha!” Sara declared. “Come on. Food!”

As they headed off in search of pizza, they walked a little further apart than they had been doing recently. There were no accidental arm brushes. They weren’t close enough. An awkward tension settled in the air between them, too. 

_ You will not kiss Ava Sharpe, _ she internally berated herself for. 

What they needed to do was get home not hook up, or, worse, fall for each other. 

Next week, Sara resolved. Next week she’d tell her her plan for sure. 


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sara brings up her idea to get home and it doesn't go well.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's a bit of a short one this week, but I'm about to go away for a week, and wanted to make sure I got the chapter up. There may not be one next week, but hopefully. Also it is my birthday on Sunday, so if you feel like leaving me a comment, those make excellent presents!

Sara couldn’t get their almost kiss out of her mind. It was dangerous. What they’d almost done was reckless and stupid. 

It couldn’t end well. 

But, dammit if she didn’t still want to. 

Her dream the next night hadn’t helped matters. 

Sara swallowed hard as images from her dream flashed through her head. Lips on lips, breathy moans, roaming hands, and so much skin. It really did not do to think about right before dinner. 

She waited anxiously for the doorbell to ring. This wasn’t like her. She didn’t stress about dinner with pretty girls. She didn’t stress about kisses that hadn’t even happened. She didn’t stress about sex dreams. 

No, this thing, whatever it might be, had gone far enough. She had chickened out for long enough. It was time to bite the bullet and tell Ava her plan. It was time to get home. 

Sara jumped when the doorbell rang. 

She took a deep breath as she moved to the door and then she opened it. 

“Hi!” Sara greeted, and then she properly looked at her. 

Ava stood there with a shy smile and a bottle of wine along with a bag of takeout. “Hey,” Ava greeted her, voice a little husky.

Sara swallowed hard again, but couldn’t stop herself from letting her gaze drop to Ava’s chest. Her shirt was tight and low-cut and it accentuated her breasts in a very flattering way. Sara had never seen this shirt on her before, which meant that it was probably new, and it definitely wasn’t a work shirt. 

“I like your top,” she replied murmured, looking away self-consciously.  

Out of the corner of her eye she saw Ava glance down with a smile. “Thanks. It’s new.”

“Got a new dress code at work with your promotion?” Sara joked. 

“Um, not exactly. I just decided maybe I could have some nice going out clothes, too,” Ava replied, her cheeks flushing an attractive shade of pink. 

“Oh.”

Okay, seriously, this was getting ridiculous. She knew how to talk to girls. Girls didn’t make her flustered or blush-y. What was going on here?

“I went with pasta from that Italian place we like. Hope that’s okay,” Ava said, moving easily into the space. 

_ Her _ space, Sara thought, yet someone else seemed at home in it. That was...nothing. That was not what she should be thinking about. That’s what it was. 

Ava set about putting food on the table and grabbing silverware from the drawer. 

“Coming?” she asked. 

Sara shut the door and nodded. “Yeah. I’ll open the wine.”

Booze would help. 

Probably. 

Sara felt a tingle run up her arm when her fingers brushed Ava’s as she handed her the bottle. 

She ignored it in favor of getting out the bottle opener and setting to work getting the cork out. She poured the glasses generously and took a big gulp. 

“You okay?” Ava asked. 

Sara nodded. She didn’t feel okay, though.  

“You look a little flushed.” Ava stepped closer and put a hand on Sara’s forehead. “You don’t feel like you have a fever. Do you feel like you’re coming down with something?”

Sara wasn’t expecting the concern etched onto Ava’s features. She wasn’t expecting the warmth radiating from her touch. 

She wasn’t ready to deal with the way that her body was urging her to just press up and kiss her. 

She took a step back and swallowed hard. “No, I’m fine. I was just doing some cleaning up before you got here. You know, they say that housework is actually a really good workout?”

Sara thanked her lucky stars that she had, in fact, opted to do some house cleaning earlier in the day.  

“I’ve heard that,” Ava agreed. “Well, for what it’s worth, you’re very pretty when you’re flushed. Maybe you should clean more often.”

Sara took a sharp intake of breath. There wasn’t any dancing around that compliment, even if she’d immediately covered it with a joke. “You can stop picturing me dancing around in a little french maid’s outfit,” Sara replied with a smirk. 

No. That was not going to be helpful, she mentally reprimanded herself. More flirting was the exact opposite of helpful. Tonight she was going to talk about the plan, not try to talk Ava out of her pants. Her very tight-fitting pants. 

Ava blushed profusely and tried to hide it behind a large sip of wine. 

Dammit, she was cute when she blushed. 

Sara took a deep breath and told herself to stop checking Ava out. She didn’t listen. 

“I was definitely not imagining that,” Ava declared, looking slightly more composed for the moment to think. 

“You are now though,” Sara shot back with a wink. 

Ava rolled her eyes, but her blush only intensified. 

“I’m thinking about dinner,” Ava replied. 

“Is that what I am now? I was thinking dessert, but suit yourself.”

_ OH MY GOD STOP! _ she berated herself. 

Ava’s mouth hung open and her tongue darted out to wet her lips. She was actually considering it, Sara realized. Or at least the idea held some appeal to her. 

This was dangerous. This was REALLY dangerous. Sara wasn’t ready for that. Not with Ava. Not with someone she really considered a friend. 

“Dessert, huh?” Ava asked, and Sara couldn’t look away as Ava ran her tongue over her teeth. 

Would it really hurt that much to have a little fun? 

YES! Sara told herself. Yes, it would.

She took a deep breath and did her best to turn off flirt mode. “Okay, sorry, too far,” she laughed as if it had simply been a joke. 

Ava chuckled, but it came across as half-hearted. 

“Food!” Sara declared. “We should eat!”

  
  


They managed to make it most of the way through dinner without further flirting. It helped Sara to keep something in her mouth at all times. That way it couldn’t develop a mind of its own and say something she was apt to regret. 

Well, except for the thing that she KNEW she was going to regret saying, but needed to say anyway. 

She chewed slowly on her bite of chicken alfredo, fully aware that she was running out of food on her plate and room in her stomach. She wasn’t ready for that conversation either, but she’d really put it off long enough. 

“Something on your mind?” Ava asked, studying her closely. 

“Dessert,” Sara blurted before what was actually on her mind could slip out. 

Ava raised an eyebrow at her. “Back to that, huh?”

Their earlier conversation flitted back across her brain. That wasn’t what she’d meant. She’d meant the bar of chocolate in her cupboard. “Well, when there’s such good eye candy sitting across the table, it’s hard not to wonder.”

WHAT THE FUCK WAS WRONG WITH HER?

Sara shook her head. “No, actually I was thinking about home.”

Ava’s brows furrowed. “You’ve had an idea?”

“I’ve had an idea for a while. And it will work, too.”

“So why haven’t you mentioned it before?” Ava asked. 

“Because you’re not going to like it,” Sara replied matter-of-factly. 

Ava sat up a little straighter in her seat. “What is it?”

Sara took a deep breath. “We need to create an anachronism.”

“No. Absolutely not,” Ava replied. 

Sara rolled her eyes. “That’s exactly what I knew you were going to say, which is why I didn’t before now, but hear me out-”

Ava pushed back from the table and dropped her napkin beside her plate. “No! No. There is no hearing out. It is literally our jobs to protect history, Sara! Maybe you didn’t take an oath and you don’t take that job seriously, but I did and I do!”

Sara reeled. “You think I don’t take this seriously? I have DIED saving the world! I let my sister stay dead so the world could survive! And you don’t think I take this SERIOUSLY???” She slammed her hands down on the table for emphasis.  

“Then how can you even suggest creating an anachronism and making things worse?” Ava demanded, getting to her feet. 

Sara followed suit. “Because we’re not doing anyone any good being stuck here! How are we helping?”

“By not further damaging history,” Ava replied, crossing her arms across her chest. 

“Yeah? And how do you think our teams are faring without us? We can HELP, Ava, but not if we’re stuck here.”

“I’m not breaking every rule in the book just to get home so that you and your team can run around pretending to be heros!”

Sara balked. “Pretending?” she demanded. “Pretending? How many lives have we saved??”

“How many lives have you endangered? It’s because of you that time is so badly broken in the first place!”

“It’s because of me that we don’t live in a hellish doom world created by Eobard Thawne, Damien Darhk, and Malcolm Merlyn!” Sara argued. 

“So, what? Your big plan is to break history enough that your idiotic team knows where to come find us? Is that it?”

“Well, I figured it would have to be something pretty big for Gary and the stiffs at the Time Bureau to even notice it, so yeah, basically!” Sara shot back. 

Ava glared at her and she glared right back. 

Ava shook her head and threw her hands in the air. “This is insane! We have other ways! We’ve talked about other plans!”

“Yeah, but you know as well as I do that those plans are like a shot in the dark. Maybe we’ll get lucky. Maybe our message gets found. Maybe they figure out how to find us. Maybe someone bothers to push through the Bureau’s fucking red tape and MAYBE someday we get rescued. I don’t want maybes! I want to get back to my life!”

“And you think I don’t?”

“So then let’s create an anachronism! Something that will be sure to let the Legends know we’re here, we’re still alive, and they need to get their asses back here and pick us up!”

Ava shook her head. “I can’t.”

“You can, you just won’t,” Sara retorted. “You know, I thought maybe you had finally decided to pull that stick about the rules out of your ass, but here you are unwilling to bend even if it means being stranded here forever.”

“I may have a stick up my ass, but at least I’m not reckless and selfish. You’re right. I WON’T risk all of time just for my own selfish desires to get home, but you’re willing to blow up the whole damn world to play hero, aren’t you?”

Sara’s mouth hung open as she searched for a reply. Selfish? Is that what Ava thought of her? And “playing hero”? 

“We are not going to break time further. We’re going to do our jobs and trust our teams.”

“So, what, now you’re my boss and you get the final say?”

Ava let out a curt laugh. “Don’t be stupid. I was always your boss. We just gave you a little freedom. Clearly that was a mistake if this is the kind of hare-brained scheme you come up with.”

“Screw you!” Sara glared. 

“Very mature,” Ava shot back. “You know, I can’t believe that I...That we...I thought you were someone that I- Forget it. I’ll see myself out. Come find me when you’ve gotten this ridiculous idea out of your head. Come find me when you’re ready to do your job.”

Ava moved to the door and shut it hard without looking back. 

Sara stared after her, her heart racing and her blood boiling. 

She began to pace her floor as she seethed. “Selfish? She thinks I’m being selfish??? I have a TEAM to protect! I have PEOPLE relying on me!”

She paced some more. God, she wanted to punch something. She should’ve invested in that heavy bag she’d contemplated getting the other week. 

“Selfish,” she muttered again. 

Was she being selfish? She wasn’t thinking any anachronism that they couldn’t fix once the team was here. It was a calculated risk, not a ridiculous one. 

“Screw the Time Bureau and screw their rules!” Sara exclaimed to the empty room only to have her voice echo back at her.  

She took a deep breath and tried to calm herself. If Ava wasn’t so damn stuck on the rules she’d see that they didn’t have another option. Stay stuck wasn’t a real choice for them. Sooner or later they’d get into trouble or let something slip or be seen by someone who knew them. The saying “it’s a small world” didn’t come about for no reason. Her and Oliver’s stories proved that. What were the odds that she’d have ended up on a ship that was looking for something on the very island that Oliver had been stranded on. What were the odds that Slade Wilson had survived and come to seek them out just as Sara had finally decided to come home to check on her family? 

No, she had to get out of there, not just for her, but for the sake of time itself. 

  
  


She had thought that Ava might have come around in a week’s time. She really thought that she’d have heard something from her when two weeks had gone by. 

Okay, maybe she could have reached out, too, but she wasn’t wrong about her idea and she wasn’t going to say so just to try to salvage their relationship. 

Except she missed her, dammit. 

She didn’t want to. The Sara that got stranded in 2011 with her could barely stand her, so how could she be sitting at her table now wishing so desperately that Ava was sitting across from her?  

Not that it mattered. She wasn’t and, if the past two weeks of complete lack of communication was any indication, she wasn’t going to be any time soon.  

Sara was on her own. Honestly, truly, on her own. 

She felt empty when she flirted with a pretty girl at work. The familiar jokes she shared with the regulars at the bar felt hollow. Nobody really knew her. Nobody really could. Not here. Not ever. 

Nobody except Ava. 

“This is stupid,” she muttered to herself over her slice of cold pizza. She took a bite and tossed it down on her plate. 

It was stupid. 

She should just create the anachronism by herself. Then at least she’d be home.

The hell with Ava Sharpe. She could try her hidden messages and hoping for a rescue that might never come. She could rot in this timeline for all Sara cared. 

Sara took a deep breath. 

Except she did care. She’d had this same argument with herself everyday for two weeks. Without Ava around the only thing stopping her from going out and creating an anachronism was her, but she couldn’t bring herself to do it. She couldn’t really leave Ava. 

Time needed Agent Sharpe as much as it needed Captain Lance. 

How could she change her mind, though? She hadn’t even gotten her to listen to her properly the first time! They had been flirty and friendly and close and she had shut down the second that outright breaking the rules had been mentioned. How could Sara get her to listen and see that she was right?

Sara sighed and picked at her pizza. She didn’t have much of an appetite tonight. 

She pulled out her phone and selected Ava’s number. She could just shoot her a text. She could make sure she was okay, at least. 

She put her phone down on the table upside down so she couldn’t see the screen. 

No, Ava needed to come to her. 

Maybe she was a little selfish, but she was also right, and Ava wasn’t going to figure that out from her telling her. Ava was as stubborn as they came. Sara should know, she was, too. It was a Lance family trait. The only person who could change Ava’s mind was Ava. 

Sara glanced around her apartment and tried to remember a time when she truly felt this alone. 

She couldn’t. 

Hopefully Ava would change her mind quickly. 

 


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sara contemplates her options and deals with loneliness.

Sara had been lonely before. She really had. The ache of loneliness that she’d felt when she’d learned of Laurel’s death had been physically painful. It had been stupid, really, because it wasn’t like she’d been able to talk to her much in her months galavanting around on the Waverider saving the world, but at least it had been an option. The absence of the option and the knowledge that it never would be again was what made the loneliness so fucking acute. 

And yet, even having known that, this loneliness was different somehow. Ava wasn’t dead (not that she was aware of at least), and Sara had other people around her, but damn she was lonely. 

She did a lot of not being home on her night off these days, but her finances weren’t exactly booming and she wasn’t looking for a lot of human interaction. Even a quick fling, a purely physical way to burn off some steam and feel something if only for a moment, didn’t appeal to her. She’d turned down advances both at work and out around town, settling for a drink and a stop by the gym she’d found where the owner clearly had a bit of a crush on her so gave her a discount membership. At least that afforded her the opportunity to hit something without risking getting into trouble or messing with history. 

Although…

The idea of causing the anachronism by herself kept flitting through her mind. 

She could.

Putting the Black Canary out there in a time and place when she shouldn’t exist yet AND having the bonus of stopping a few crimes and dealing with a few assholes would certainly have the desired effect of getting her team’s attention. 

It was just the thought of Ava being left behind stopped her every time. It stopped her before she could leave her apartment. It stopped her before she could don the black leather jacket she’d picked up at a thrift store that had fit just so perfectly. It stopped her before she could even get up off the couch, if she was honest. 

She missed her. 

She wouldn’t leave her. 

Dammit, this was why she didn’t do emotions. This was why she didn’t get attached. This was why she had been wary of her own tendency to flirt when it came to Ava. 

She sighed heavily.

Maybe it was time she just apologized for her idea.

Then at least they’d have a chance of getting home together. 

Then maybe the ache of loneliness would abate some. 

It was so much better to be stuck with someone than stuck by herself.  

Except she knew her idea wasn’t wrong, and she knew Ava would see right through her. Maybe she’d pretend for a day or a week or even a month, but at some point they would both have to deal with the fact that Sara knew her way was THE way to ensure they both got home. 

Sara sighed heavily. She should have gone out tonight rather than sitting at home. She always missed Ava more when she was sitting at home. 

No, it wasn’t missing Ava. It was missing her company. 

There was a distinction. 

Maybe it was small, but it was important. She would have missed whoever she got stuck with, whether flirting had happened or not.

Okay, maybe not Gary. 

She’d probably have ditched Gary week one. 

She stood to pour herself another glass of wine out of the box on the counter, because who was she trying to impress? And at least the box didn’t go off if she didn’t drink the whole thing in one night. 

She was halfway to the counter where the wine was when her doorbell rang. 

Her heart skipped a beat. 

She went to the door and hesitated before opening it. It probably wasn’t Ava, she braced herself. And it surely wasn’t a rescue. 

She opened the door and her heart skipped another beat. 

“I have a delivery for a Captain Sara Lance?”

Sara couldn’t help but crack a grin. “I didn’t order anything,” she replied, eyeing the bags of takeout held in front of her face hungrily.  

“This was a special apology order. The person who ordered said to say sorry for having a stick so far up her ass she wouldn’t even hear you out.”

Ava moved her hands so that the takeout and the wine were no longer blocking her face, and Sara noted the blush gracing her cheeks. 

“Really?” Sara said, leaning on the doorframe, but making no effort to move out of the way to let Ava into the apartment. She knew she was going to, but it had been a long six weeks and maybe she just wasn’t the type to be the bigger person and not make Ava work for it, just a little. 

“She also said to say that she was sorry she was so stubborn about getting in touch even when she realized she’d been a jerk and said some pretty mean things,” Ava said, biting her lower lip hesitantly when she was done. 

“Hmmm,” Sara mused. “Well, maybe she wasn’t the only one who said things that maybe weren’t so nice,” she conceded. “And maybe she wasn’t the only one who could have reached out.”

“I missed you,” Ava murmured, then her cheeks flushed an even darker shade of red. “I mean weekly dinners and just someone to talk to, you know?”

Sara did know. She knew what Ava meant and what she said. She ignored the way her stomach twisted in knots. 

“Guess you should come in, then,” she replied,  _ I missed you, too _ dying at the back of her throat before it could escape. 

Ava stepped into the space with a sheepish expression on her face. She lingered awkwardly by the door and Sara found herself at a loss of what to say before realizing that Ava was still holding all the food and the wine. 

“Here, let me get that,” Sara said, taking the bags of food from Ava. 

“Thanks,” Ava replied, handing it over. “I got Chinese from that place on Industrial and Indian from that hole in the wall on Church Street that we tried that one time.”

“The one with the good flavor!” Sara declared. She remembered. She remembered every meal with Ava. 

“Yes,” Ava answered with a shy smile. 

“Sounds great,” Sara said, hesitating for a moment before realizing that she should probably bring the food on into the apartment. 

She moved into the kitchen, acutely aware of the click of the door as Ava shut it behind her, closing them in together. Her apartment had never felt so small. 

She set the bags down on the counter and began to unpack them, focussing on the enticing aromas of spices that emerged from the containers rather than the way the air moved around her as Ava came to stand beside her, her arm bumping her as she helped open up the food containers.  

“So,” Ava began, voice sounding surprisingly unsteady, not like her at all, “how have you been?”

_ Lonely _ , Sara thought. “Okay,” she replied, shooting Ava a nonchalante smile. “Same old, same old. Work, home, a little working out.”

“That’s good. That’s...good. I’m glad.”

Sara nodded. Silence stretched out between them, broken only by the soft *thwap* of cardboard containers opening and the *crack* of plastic lids being lifted off. 

Sara glanced at Ava. It had never been this awkward. Even when they hadn’t been able to stand each other it hadn’t been like this. Now Sara was struggling to find the words - the ones her brain was supplying not ones she was willing to let her tongue express.  

“How about you?”

Ava shrugged. “Work has been okay. Still have to deal with far too many stupid customers, but at least I get to boss some underlings around, too.”

Sara chuckled. “I always knew you liked bossing people around,” she teased, the words and the hip bump coming out easily, but the contact making her freeze.  

She wasn’t the only one affected. Ava’s movements stilled momentarily beside her. 

It was just the awkwardness of them having not spoken in so long after finally developing a proper friendship. It was the post-fight where do we go from here. That was all. Her skin was tingling just from the long absence of contact, not from who the contact was with. 

“So, sounds like we both survived,” Sara said, her voice forcefully cheerful. 

“Apparently. I might have scanned the headlines to make sure you were staying out of trouble, though,” Ava said. 

Sara narrowed her eyes. “It’s a very boring existence not making trouble, you know.” 

Ava chuckled. “For you, I’m sure that’s true.”

“Heeeey!” 

Better. Easier. The conversation wasn’t quite so stilted. 

“Okay, okay, I’m sorry. You could have...Nevermind. I’m just glad you were here tonight.”

Just like that the awkwardness was back. They were both censoring themselves, Sara realized. She could guess at the end of Ava’s sentence, but she didn’t want to. “Me too,” she replied instead, not meeting the look that she could feel Ava giving her. 

In an easy, practiced way they got their plates and filled them. Ava opened the wine not needing to ask where the bottle opener was kept and Sara’s chest felt inexplicably a little tighter. Ava filled two glasses and Sara’s fingers brushed hers as she handed it over. The small, “Thanks,” dying on her lips at the touch. 

When Ava smiled down at her, it took all of her focus not to drop the glass in her hand. 

They settled at the table with the silence still lingering, stretching out between them, the words they weren’t saying hovering in the air like a palpable presence. 

Ava smiled again across the table, awkward, unsure. 

“Cheers,” Sara offered, holding up her wine glass. 

“To mending bridges?” Ava suggested, lifting her own glass. 

“To friendly dinners resuming,” Sara said. 

“Friendly?” Ava asked, a blush creeping up her cheeks as she looked away. 

Sara felt the smirk tugging at her lips before she’d consciously given it consent. “To having you back in my life,” she said, eyes trained on Ava.

Ava’s eyes seemed darker when she met her gaze. “I like that,” she replied, her voice low and husky. She clinked her glass against Sara’s and they both drank long sips. 

“Well, bon appetite!” Ava declared, before shoveling food into her mouth. 

Sara dug in as well, sneaking glances across the table with each clink of a fork on a plate to remind herself that tonight she wasn’t eating alone.  

They were maybe halfway done with what was on their plates, when Ava dropped her fork with a clatter. 

“This is weird, right?” she demanded, sitting back and crossing her arms. 

Sara put her fork down more quietly. “Yeah. Kind of.”

“Look, cards on the table: I was wrong not to hear you out. I’m sorry for the things I said. I’m sorry for not calling or texting or just showing up sooner. I’m sorry for not thinking about how hard this must all be for you.”

Sara’s mouth dropped open. She could tease her so easily, turn it all into a joke, and have their banter back. She resisted the urge. “I’m sorry, too. I shouldn’t have just sprung it on you. I went into that conversation defensive and I said things I shouldn’t have.”

Ava looked surprised. “Wow, I didn’t think you’d-” she cut herself off. 

“Know how to apologize?” Sara finished for her with a smirk. “Funny because I didn’t think you knew how to admit you were wrong about something.”

Ava’s lips curled into a smile that reached her eyes, and Sara told herself her heart didn’t skip a beat. 

“So now that that’s off our chests, maybe we can relax a little?” Ava suggested. 

Sara’s eyes dipped involuntarily to Ava’s chest, appreciating the way her scoop neck shirt revealed just a hint of cleavage. She looked back at Ava’s face, hoping she hadn’t been caught. The hint of color on Ava’s face was the only indication that she had. “Yeah. That’d be good.”

“And maybe we can talk about what kind of an anachronism could get us home, but not be unfixable once the Legends arrive,” Ava added. 

Sara’s jaw fell open again. “So you’re actually on board? You’ll help?”

“You didn’t really need my approval, but...yes. I’ve thought a lot and you’re right. The other plans we talked about are all long shots and I don’t want to be stuck here forever. I don’t want to have to hide who I really am forever. I don’t want to have to explain to people that they have to actually read the sign to find out what’s on sale because things get moved and people don’t place signs in exactly the right place and you can’t just see the word sale and assume it applies to everything on the goddamn shelf!”

“Rough day at work?” Sara asked with a smirk. 

Ava grinned at her. “Something like that.”

“So you want to get home?”

“I really fucking do,” Ava confirmed. 

“Did it hurt?” Sara asked. 

Ava’s brows furrowed in confusion. “What?”

“Admitting that I’m right,” Sara replied, her smirk growing wider. 

Ava narrowed her eyes at Sara, but the corners of her mouth turned up slightly. “You-” she began with a wag of her finger, a hint of amusement in her voice. 

“Yes?” Sara asked, feeling a little daring.  

“You’re something else,” Ava informed her. 

“Something else, huh?” Sara challenged. 

“Something I’ve missed,” Ava replied, her cheeks coloring slightly, but her eyes not leaving Sara’s.

Sara swallowed down the sudden lump in her throat and looked away. “Well, guess we should reinstate weekly dinners until we have a plan, then,” Sara suggested. 

“Yeah,” Ava replied. “I’d like that.” 

They resumed eating, but Sara still felt off. Not in the same way as when Ava had first knocked on her door, but this still wasn’t comfortable. There was still something in the air, hovering unspoken between them. They’d said their apologies, they’d cleared the air on how to get home, so what was lingering and making Sara squirm in her seat? What was making Ava shoot shy smiles across the table? 

“Hey, so...about that night of drinking and dancing that we kept putting off before -” Ava said as she sipped on her wine once she’d cleared her plate. 

Sara raised an eyebrow at her. She ignored the way her heart beat a little faster in her chest. “The date?” she said, instantly regretting referring to it like that.

“The not date,” Ava corrected, but again a blush crept up her cheeks. 

“You just came back because nobody else would show you a good time, didn’t you?” Sara teased. 

Ava narrowed her eyes. “I’ll have you know I got asked out.”

Sara looked at her in surprise. 

“By a guy at work who is way too young for me and way too male,” Ava admitted. 

Sara grinned. “Well, if the girls aren’t asking they might be blind,” she said, feeling her cheeks flush when she realized exactly what she’d said. “I mean, I don’t have to want to go there to have eyes,” she added. 

Not better. 

Ava frowned at her for a moment, then shook her head. “Riiiight. Well...I was just thinking that we may as well go out and have some fun before we potentially destroy history. Once we have a concrete plan in place, that is.”

“Business before pleasure,” Sara replied. She bit her lower lip and looked at Ava. If they were going to risk destroying history anyway could she go there? She’d just gotten Ava back, did she dare risk losing her again? It wouldn’t necessarily be an intelligent decision, but when had she ever made the smart choice? “Yeah. We’ll work out the anachronism and then I’ll take you out for one last hurrah. If it all goes to hell at least we’ll go out on a high note.”

“You mean WHEN everything goes to hell,” Ava countered with a raised eyebrow and a small smirk.

Sara chuckled and nodded. She didn’t dare say the words at the tip of her tongue.  _ At least we won’t be alone. _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You might've noticed that I changed the number of total chapters down to 9. I had ~plans, but they're shifting, and I don't think the full 12 is necessary to tell the story I want to tell. Hopefully you'll all enjoy it anyway.


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sara and Ava finally get a plan together and maybe work some other things out too.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I KNOW IT HAS BEEN FOREVER SINCE I UPDATED AND I'M SORRY! I went from writer's block, to a small surge of being too inspired by everything and starting a bunch of new stories, to complete creative block. Add to that that it's been summer so I've been outside a lot and the kids have been taking up a lot of my time (read: I have been making obstacle courses nonstop for my ninja warrior obsessed 4yo), and factor in the long hiatus and my dwindling interest in Avalance as a result, and it was the perfect storm to leave this story hanging for ages, and I'm sorry! Hopefully I'm back now, or I'll at least be able to wrap this story up, since there's just one more chapter after this. I'm posting this completely unbeta'd just because it's been so long and I feel bad making you wait any longer, so hopefully it doesn't suck and the typos aren't too plentiful. Thank you to those of you who are still sticking with this story despite the long wait!
> 
> (Also note the ratings bump. If smut isn't your thing, feel free to skip the end of the chapter.)

“So we have a plan?” Sara asked, still not quite believing that Ava was actually willing to go along with this. 

Ava nodded. “Yep. I think we have a plan.”

“We’re gonna screw up history,” Sara said. 

“Just a little. And hopefully we’ll get a chance to un-screw it up.”

“I don’t think that’s a word,” Sara teased, reaching out to tuck some hair behind Ava’s ear and freezing when she realized exactly what she was doing. She pulled her hand back quickly, and did her best to ignore the curious look from Ava and the cute lip bite that accompanied it. 

Ava cleared her throat and said, “Yeah, well, it is now.” She held up her glass of wine. “To getting rescued,” she said. 

“Hopefully,” Sara agreed, clinking her glass against Ava’s. She took a long sip and did her best to ignore the tiny voice at the back of her head that suggested she might actually miss this. She might miss Ava and the strange intimacy that they’d been building. No, not intimacy. Friendship, she corrected. Just a friendship. Nothing especially intimate about it. She definitely hadn’t had an intimate dream about the two of them the other night.

“So when should we do it?” Ava asked. 

Sara choked on her whine and took an embarrassingly long time to get her coughing under control. 

“You okay?” Ava reached over and patted her on the back. 

It didn’t help. 

She nodded, coughed one more time, then croaked, “Probably sooner rather than later.”

“True. We’ve been stuck here long enough,” Ava agreed, her hand coming to a stop on Sara’s back, but she didn’t pull it away. 

Instead it sat there, spreading warmth through Sara and sending a tingle down her spine. She tried to ignore it. Ava had apparently forgotten they were still touching, so she may as well forget it, too. She did her best to ignore the stab of disappointment that Ava’s words prompted, too. They HAD been stuck too long. Way too long. That knowledge shouldn’t have stung. 

“So...Day after tomorrow?” Sara suggested. “Or, I suppose we could pull everything together tomorrow, but it would be a little tight.”

Ava bit her lip and frowned, her hand falling back to her lap. 

Sara felt suddenly cold at the absence of her touch. 

“That’s...How about...I mean, we haven’t had our date yet.”

Sara smirked and raised an eyebrow at her. “Our date, huh?”

Ava shook her head and blushed, not making eye contact with Sara. “Obviously it’s not really a date, I just meant our night out of fun. We should do that first. You know how it’ll be once we’re rescued -”

“Hopefully rescued,” Sara corrected. 

Ava nodded her agreement. “It’ll be back to the grind. I’ll be filling out paperwork for weeks, and I’m sure that causing an anachronism will mean I’ll have to come up for review. There won’t be time for fun nights out.”

“Captaining the Waverider does put a bit of a dent in my social life,” Sara agreed.

“Really? And here I thought you just travelled through time being romanced by every woman you encountered,” Ava teased. 

Sara chuckled and her eyes met Ava’s. There was still a blush gracing her cheeks and it made the blue of her eyes pop a little brighter. She really was beautiful. Sara took a deep breath and looked away. “Okay, but weekly dinners are hard. Time travel really skews your view of a week.”

It was Ava’s turn to laugh. “Okay, so how’s this for a plan: we spend the next - let’s give ourselves two days to get everything together - so we spend the next two days organizing everything, making sure everything is in place and we have what we need, and then we go out Friday night and enact the plan Saturday afternoon?”

Sara narrowed her eyes at Ava, a smirk gracing her lips. “Are you accounting for hangover time?”

“What? No. Obviously it wouldn’t be a good idea to get too drunk when we have important things to do the next day.”

“So Saturday afternoon because…?”

Ava blushed. “Hey, it may be our last morning to sleep in for some time. I want to take that opportunity.” 

Sara laughed. “Okay. It’s a plan. And a date,” she added with a wink. 

Ava didn’t correct her. 

  
  
  


The drinks felt well earned by the time the cocktail glasses hit their hands on Friday night. They had both called off of work and spent the bulk of the past two days running around making sure that everything was in place. Odds were, they would only get one shot at their anachronism and they were all about minimal collateral damage. If everything went according to plan, nobody would get hurt and they would still get to go home. 

It was a big if, and they both knew it.

“Cheers,” Sara said. 

“To not screwing up,” Ava replied, tapping her glass against Sara’s. 

Sara’s eyes met Ava’s and the gaze lingered over the tops of their cocktail glasses as they each took a sip. She liked the way that everytime Ava smiled at her these days she could see the crinkles in the corner of her eyes. They were real smiles. A few short months ago, she wouldn’t have dreamed Ava capable of those. 

Sara gulped her drink down faster than she should have. She noted, with interest, that Ava’s drink was gone shortly after hers, though she didn’t dare guess at her reasons. Sara was merely trying to calm the racing of her heart tonight. She shouldn’t have been anxious about tomorrow’s plans. She REALLY shouldn’t have been anxious about tonight’s night out. 

“Let’s dance,” Ava said, setting her empty glass down on the bar and reaching for Sara’s hand. 

Sara pretended that her breath didn’t hitch when Ava’s fingers laced through hers, but she couldn’t deny her surprise as Ava led her onto the dance floor. Instead of dropping Sara’s hand, Ava placed it on her hip, then wrapped her arms around Sara, a small smile on her face and a look in her eyes that Sara couldn’t identify. Or maybe she could and she just didn’t want to. 

She put her other hand on Ava’s other hip, wondering if it was wise, and she suppressed a gasp as Ava’s hips began to sway freely in time with the music. 

Ava leaned in close, her hair falling forward and tickling Sara’s cheek, and Sara felt her breathing become shallower. 

“Last time we danced I was the one who needed to loosen up. Tonight it’s you,” Ava murmured in her ear, her breath falling hotly against the side of Sara’s face. 

Ava was right. She didn’t do well when she was overthinking. It wasn’t her style. She needed to relax. If Ava Sharpe was willing to go there, why should she protest? 

She let herself begin to sway with the music and grasped Ava’s hips with a little more purpose, their bodies finding a rhythm with each other as well as the music.

“Better?” she challenged, pushing up onto her toes to talk directly into Ava’s ear, pushing their bodies closer together in the process. 

She felt more than heard Ava’s sharp intake of breath, and couldn’t help feeling a small rush of satisfaction. She might have been thrown at first, but it was Ava who was thrown now. Maybe she hadn’t expected her to respond in kind. Then again, when had it ever been like either of them to back down. It wasn’t in their nature. It was part of what made the prospect of this dangerous, Sara knew. 

Ava nodded  and her hair tickled Sara’s cheek. Sara felt Ava’s hands slide lower and settle in the curve her back, pressing flush against it, her fingers rubbing gentle paths over the bare skin her red crop top exposed. 

This was a new Ava - an unexpected Ava. This was a bold Ava, and Sara liked her. She shouldn’t, a small part of her brain argued. This was asking for trouble. They were so close to having a proper attempt at getting home and this could spoil it all. 

Except it could not, too. 

Sara let her fingers trail down over Ava’s ass, just to see what might happen. 

Ava didn’t comment, but when Sara looked into her eyes, they were dark. 

Whatever dance they’d been dancing before their fight was back with a vengeance tonight. This wasn’t just gentle teasing or vague flirting, this was intentional touches and open lust. 

Sara moved back and Ava moved with her. Sara leaned forward and Ava let her come. Each move was matched. Each move went two ways. 

_ This is a bad idea _ , the voice at the back of her head said. 

She could feel the thrum of her body, the heat pooling low, the itch of her fingers to explore. Her body didn’t think it was a bad idea at all. 

She’d been responsible this whole stay in 2011. 

She could let responsibility slide for one night. Right? 

  
  


“So...Coffee or liqueur?” Sara asked, heading into her kitchen. “Come back to my place for a nightcap?” was either the best idea she’d ever had or the worst. Sara wasn’t sure which, yet. All she knew was that she wanted this, and Ava had agreed without hesitation, so she wasn’t the only one. 

“Got any Baileys?” Ava asked. 

Sara flashed a grin over her shoulder. “I like the way you think.”

She set her coffee to brew and dug the half-finished bottle of Baileys Irish Cream out of her cupboard. 

The problem with Irish coffee, she realized, was that without ready-brewed coffee, it left too much time to wait. She leaned back against her counter and looked expectantly at Ava. 

Ava was leaning against the archway to the kitchen, her eyes trailing up Sara’s body slowly. Sara could feel the heat rising as Ava did nothing to disguise her want. 

Sara was almost tempted to put it down to too much alcohol, except neither of them had really had that much. They’d both had plenty of water, too. Dancing was hot work, and they’d been genuinely thirsty in between. 

Thirsty, yeah...That was the feeling. 

Sara licked her lips as Ava took a step towards her. 

“It was fun tonight,” Ava said, her finger trailing along the countertop as she took another step towards Sara. 

Sara’s eyes darted to the finger. Unbidden, her mind wondered what that finger might feel like roaming over bare skin instead of laminate counters. “Mhm,” she hummed in agreement, forcing her eyes away from Ava’s finger and back to her face. “Fun,” she echoed as her gaze fell to full, inviting lips. 

“I’m glad you suggested the date,” Ava said. 

Sara was so focused on Ava’s lips that it took her a second to register exactly what Ava had said. “Date?” she asked, raising an eyebrow, a smirk playing on her lips. 

A blush spread up Ava’s cheeks as she ducked her head and tucked some hair behind her ear. 

Damn, she was cute. 

“Well, you didn’t flirt with anyone else,” Ava replied, not quite meeting Sara’s eyes. 

“I had such an attractive lady on my arm, why would I?” Sara replied. 

Ava’s eyes met hers, and the desire that burned there almost made her step back. 

Almost. 

Instead she pushed up onto the balls of her feet and leaned in. 

“Attractive?”

“Do you prefer sexy?” Sara asked in Ava’s ear, her voice low. She felt Ava shiver, and when she pulled back enough to look back into Ava’s blue eyes, she knew they’d made their decision.

Ava surged forward, knocking Sara back a little, her back hitting the counter as Ava’s lips met hers.

Her body responded instantly, the fire of desire burning through her like an inferno as she wrapped her arms around Ava’s neck, pulling her deeper into the kiss. Ava’s hands fell to her hips as she leaned into her, bodies pressed together. 

Ava broke the kiss with a gasp and started to pull away, but Sara didn’t want to give her time to think about all the reasons they shouldn’t do this. She didn’t want to let her think about all the things that could go wrong. She just wanted Ava. 

She cupped her cheek, their eyes meeting for a moment, and she saw Ava’s determination waiver, and then set as their lips clashed back together, sloppy and needy. 

Ava’s hands fell to her sides, her fingers smooth against the exposed skin there. Sara slid her hands down over Ava’s shoulders and along her back, feeling the muscles there move beneath her tough through the fabric of Ava’s shirt. There was so damn much shirt. She was really going to have to fix that soon. 

Ava pressed in harder, her hands sliding lower, over Sara’s ass, lifting her slightly. Sara let her hands fall back to the counter, and helped boost herself up. Ava smiled into the kiss as their lips met again and again, Ava’s body settling easily between Sara’s legs.

Sara grasped the bottom of Ava’s shirt and lifted it quickly up and over her head before tugging her back in for another kiss, wrapping her legs around Ava’s body, bringing her in closer. 

“You-” Ava gasped, her lips moving to kiss along Sara’s jaw. She cut herself off with a wry chuckle that vibrated through Sara’s throat and sent a shiver down her spine. “You have been driving me crazy since we met.”

Sara reached back with one hand to prop herself up as the other slid through silky locks of blonde hair and her head tilted back to give Ava more access. It was Sara’s turn to chuckle as Ava kissed down her throat, but the sound was cut off by a gasp as Ava’s teeth grazed against the sensitive skin there. A soothing tongue traced the same path a moment later, and then Ava’s lips worked their way back up to capture Sara’s once more. 

“I’ve been driving you crazy?” Sara challenged between kisses. 

Ava nodded enthusiastically as her hands slid along the exposed skin beneath her top, her fingers warm, sending tingles through Sara’s body. 

“Really?” 

Ava nodded again, her fingers tracing the hem of Sara’s jeans around from the back towards the button, her tongue sweeping into Sara’s mouth and momentarily derailing her retort. 

“YOU have been driving ME crazy,” Sara managed with another gasp as Ava popped open the button on her jeans and her tongue flicked against a sensitive spot just beneath Sara’s ear. 

“Mm-mm,” Ava hummed against her skin, a slight shake of her head conveying her disagreement. 

“The judgment,” Sara said, her fingers tangling a little tighter in Ava’s hair as Ava sucked at her pulse point for a moment that lasted not nearly long enough to leave a mark. “The superiority complex,” Sara continued as Ava’s teeth grazed against her collarbone, the hint of pain it caused producing a sharp hiss even as Sara arched into the contact. 

Ava’s her fingers tugged down the zipper of her jeans as her hot tongue soothed over Sara’s skin. 

“Fuck,” Sara gasped, her list forgotten for the moment as Ava repositioned, her fingers dancing over the top of Sara’s underwear. Sara squirmed against the touch, urging Ava’s fingers lower, but Ava slid them back up. 

“The arrogance from you,” Ava countered, her hands sliding back around behind Sara’s hips as her own hips pressed in, creating pressure that Sara couldn’t help but buck her hips into. 

She looked up into Ava’s face and was met by a smug, daring smile and darkened, lustful blue eyes. 

“The inability to even bend the rules,” Sara shot back, rocking her hips up again as Ava slid the fingers of one hand along the inside of the waistline of her underwear. She was already so wet and she could feel the desire building in her fast. If Ava didn’t touch her properly soon, she was going to have to take matters into her own hands. 

“The inability to follow rules,” Ava replied against Sara’s lips, leaning back down for another kiss as her fingers dipped down inside Sara’s underwear, barely brushing the top of her clit before pulling away. 

“Fucking, just -” Sara groaned, moving her hips for emphasis. 

Ava chuckled, moving to kiss across Sara’s cheek. “The impatience,” she added into Sara’s ear, as she adjusted her position again she slid her fingers down at a better angle this time, letting them slip down and dip just barely inside Sara. It was her turn to swear then. “Fuck, you’re wet.”

“Yeah, well, there’s the bad crazy you’ve been driving me, and then the good crazy,” Sara replied, her voice low and husky. 

Ava pulled back enough to look into her eyes for a moment, and then she was surging forward, her fingers sliding inside of her, palm pressed hard against her clit in the confines of her underwear made even more constricting by her undone jeans. 

Sara let out a throaty moan into Ava’s mouth as Ava’s fingers thrust in deeper, the friction of her palm against Sara’s cilt already pushing her close to the edge. Then again, maybe it was just the weeks of pent up sexual frustration. She dare not think of it as pining. 

Sara moved her supporting hand and wrapped her arm tightly around Ava’s back, her fingers digging into the bare skin of Ava’s shoulder blade, feeling the strong muscles move beneath her touch as Ava continued to work her fingers in and out of her. 

“God, why are you still wearing these jeans?” Ava protested, readjusting her position again.

The way her palm pressed into Sara’s clit now, took Sara’s breath away for a few seconds. She rocked into the touch, Ava’s fingers pressing deeper inside her. 

“Because I’m not the only one who’s impatient,” she gasped as Ava’s fingers curled inside her. 

Ava kissed her again, sloppy and wet as they both focused their attention elsewhere. Ava’s thrusts quickened and Sara moved her hips to match her pace as she wrapped her other hand tightly around Ava’s waist, clinging to her for support as she felt herself beginning to unravel. Ava’s fingers curled inside her again, and they both gave up attempting to kiss, their foreheads pressed together instead, hot pants falling into each other’s mouths as they shared the same air. 

Ava Sharpe, Miss Can’t-Break-Protocol, was fucking her senseless with skillful fingers. Everything, from her rhythm, to the pressure of her touch, to the way her nails dug into her lower back, holding her in place, only served to set Sara’s body on fire faster. Her eyes fluttered closed and she let the sensations roll over her. Ava’s fingers were strong and purposeful inside her, her palm was shifting just enough against her clit to drive her wild. She could feel the pressure building low inside her. A low moan escaped her lips at the thought that Ava was completely unravelling her. 

“I don’t think this is in the protocol,” Sara panted. 

Ava thrust in a little harder. “Fuck protocol,” she replied, her forehead pulling away from Sara’s. 

Sara opened her eyes and took in the look of fierce determination on Ava’s face - the way her lower lip was pinned beneath her teeth, the focused look in her eyes, the flush of pink on her cheeks. Sara was sure that she’d never looked sexier. 

Ava’s fingers curled again, hitting just the right spot as her palm slid over her clit, and Sara’s eyes closed again. “Ava,” Sara gasped. 

“Come for me.” Ava’s voice was hoarse and breathy in her ear and it sent a shiver through her. 

Ava thrust again and again, faster now, her fingers buried deep inside her. Sara felt like she could feel her everywhere as she quickly approached the edge. It wouldn’t take much now and she’d tip over the edge. 

Sara held Ava a little tighter as Ava pressed in with the weight of her body, adding more pressure to her thrusts. She buried her face in Ava’s shoulder, her hair tickling Sara’s cheek as the clean scent of her shampoo flooding her nostrils, mixing with the smell of sweat and arousal that filled the air. She placed a few sloppy kisses into the crook of Ava’s neck as Ava rocked into her, fingers curling once more. 

“Come for me,” Ava coaxed again. 

“Yes, ma’am,” Sara replied just as the first spasm of her orgasm wracked through her. She bit down into Ava’s shoulder, prompting a small gasp from her, but she kept pumping into Sara as Sara’s legs began to tremble and her pussy clenched around Ava’s fingers. 

Sara threw her head back and tried to stifle a moan that grew louder and louder, as wave after wave of orgasm washed over her. 

“Fuck,” she mumbled, as she began to come down, once again tucking her face into Ava’s shoulder. 

Ava’s fingers slowed their pace and Sara tried to regain control of her breathing. She felt the rise and fall of Ava’s chest matching her breaths. She pulled back, once again placing a supporting hand behind her on the counter, as Ava gently pulled her fingers out, swearing under her breath as she extracted her hand from her underwear and shook out her wrist a little. Sara could see the glistening of her wetness on her fingers, and she watched as Ava brought them to her lips and tasted it. The way that Ava’s eyes fluttered closed and a small hum escaped her lips as she sucked her fingers clean sent another spasm through Sara’s pussy. When Ava opened her eyes again, her gaze was full of lust. “That might be the first order you’ve ever followed,” she challenged. 

Sara chuckled. “Maybe it’s just the first one that I liked,” she replied. 

Ava started to roll her eyes, but Sara reached up and cupped the back of her head, pulling her down into a deep kiss. She could taste herself on Ava’s lips and that knowledge made her excited all over again. “Why didn’t we do that sooner?” Sara asked as she broke away. 

“Rules and regulations?” Ava suggested, though her tone suggested that it was a stupid reason. 

“So I shouldn’t return the favor?” Sara challenged with a smirk. 

Ava narrowed her eyes at Sara and moved back in for another kiss. “You’d fucking better,” Ava replied against her lips. 

Sara smiled into the kiss. That was definitely another order that she could follow. 


	9. Chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Will Sara and Ava make it out of 2011 or not?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Last chapter! Sorry for the epic wait. I kinda lost some of my interest in Avalance and have had massive creative block AND my children have been going through this stage where they need attention all the time and I barely leave them alone in a room (unless I'd like the room trashed) for even a minute. On top of that, I've been sick for the past month, complete with pneumonia diagnosis just before Thanksgiving, and my hubby and kids have been sick too. Basically life has been busy and chaotic and I've barely opened my computer. I'm definitely feeling rusty, so this isn't really up to my usual standards, but I wanted to finish this story. I hope you enjoy.

She should have known better than to sneak out for a midnight snack, but they’d worked up quite the appetite and Ava had been sleeping so peacefully. Well, Sara had thought that she’d been sleeping peacefully. The whirlwind of movement around her bedroom suggested otherwise as she leaned in the doorway and crossed her arms across her chest. 

She sighed, and shook her head as Ava finished putting on her shirt and began to look around for her pants. Things may have changed between them, but Ava’s reaction was still predictable. 

“Where are you going? We don’t have anywhere to be until morning.” Sara couldn’t help the smirk that spread across her face. She let her eyes trail slowly up Ava’s legs without bothering to try to hide her lust. God, she had gorgeous legs. 

Ava looked up, her cheeks tingeing pink and her eyes fell, unable to hold her gaze. “This was a mistake.”

Sara rolled her eyes. It wasn’t a mistake. It wasn’t rushed. Ava knew that. Somewhere in her brain. This was just the fuzzy initial panic. If Sara was being honest with herself, she was a little surprised that she wasn’t feeling any of it. 

“I don’t know how I let this happen!” Ava declared, spotting her pants, and reaching down to grab them, flashing a hint of cleavage as she bent over that Sara was all-too-happy to see. 

Sara leaned her head against the doorway. “That’s a lie, and you know it, Agent Sharpe,” she countered, enunciating the last two words carefully. 

The use of the formality had the desired effect, and Ava stopped attempting to put her pants on, and finally met her gaze again. 

“You wanted this to happen the minute you met me.” 

The accusation made Ava’s cheeks flush a darker shade of pink. Sara had thought it might have been a bit of an exaggeration, but maybe not.  

Ava crossed her arms and looked at her for a long moment before replying. “Are you always this-”

“Charming?” Sara cut her off with a sly grin. “I’ve been told so.” 

Ava smiled and ducked her head, but Sara could see the tension leaving her shoulders.

Sara pushed away from the doorway and stepped forward. “Stay and I bet I can convince you.” 

Ava stepped forward to meet her, and Sara pulled her into a deep kiss. 

“Challenge accepted, Captain,” Ava murmured against her lips. 

Sara chuckled into the kiss as her fingers traced up Ava’s sides, dragging her recently-put-on top with them. “You really shouldn’t have bothered putting this back on,” she mumbled as they stumbled back towards the bed. 

“Shut up,” Ava replied before kissing her so fiercely any thoughts of rebuttals fled her mind in favor of other pursuits. 

  
  


“You ready?” 

Sara grinned. It felt weird donning the mask and the black after so much time in the white, not hiding in the shadows. Weird, but not wrong. It was still familiar, after all this time. 

It wasn’t strictly necessary, but the appearance of the Black Canary alongside the anachronism would be like waving a giant flag at the Waverider and her team. 

“No,” she admitted. 

Ava let out a large sigh of relief. “Oh, thank God! Me neither!”

Sara laughed. She bit back the words, “Ava Sharpe, admitting a weakness.” The Ava she’d had moaning beneath her the night before was not the same woman she’d arrived in 2011 with months ago. This Ava showed her vulnerabilities. Well, some of them. To Sara, at least. The thought made her smile. “Not prepared to go against everything that you’ve stood for since you joined the Time Bureau?” 

“Or not prepared to get back to real life. It’ll make this more complicated.” Ava gestured between them. 

“This that you tried to run away from in the middle of the night,” Sara reminded her with a smirk, doing her best to ignore the pitter patter in her chest that Ava was thinking about a future. 

Ava shot her a shy smile and Sara caught a hint of color on her cheeks. “Maybe not my finest moment,” Ava murmured, squinting at her sheepishly. 

“Unlike what we’re about to do.”

“Your team is going to rescue us, right?” Ava asked. 

“That’s the hope,” Sara replied. 

“And we’ll put this all right. We’ll fix the anachronism.”

“If everything goes according to plan,” Sara agreed. 

She and Ava looked at each other and burst into nervous laughter. 

“When’s the last time that ever happened?” Ava asked through her fit of giggles. 

“With us? Never,” Sara replied, clutching her side as she tried to regain control. 

Ava’s hand reached out to touch her arm, perhaps stabilizing, perhaps just reaching for the touch. Either way, Sara welcomed it and leaned into it. She slid her hand into Ava’s as they calmed their laughter and caught their breath. She felt Ava give her hand a little squeeze and warmth flooded through her. They could do this. The anachronism. The rescue. Getting back to normal life…

...Well, maybe not completely normal. A new normal. 

They could do this. 

She squeezed Ava’s hand back. 

“Ready?” Ava asked again with a nervous grin.

“As I’ll ever be,” she replied. 

It was now or never. 

  
  
  


“THIS WAS NOT THE PLAN!!!” Ava yelled. 

Sara grabbed Ava’s hand and risked a glance over her shoulder. There were even more angry faces behind them than last time she’d looked and some of them were most definitely armed. “Just go faster!” she advised. 

She spotted a turn up ahead. It was narrow, which meant their pursuers would have to file down into a line. They might lose a few with the sharp turn, too. Plus, with any luck, there’d be a back way out that they could slip through and escape. 

She tugged Ava’s hand and darted down the alley. 

“Fuck!” she growled. Of course there was no back way out. When was there ever a back way out when she needed one?

There was a dumpster and a sewer cap, though. The noise behind them was close and the sewer cap looked heavy. No time. 

Without having to talk, she and Ava ducked behind the dumpster and hunkered down. 

Ava looked at her, panting heavily. “This...was...a...massive...mistake,” she said in a hushed whisper. 

“We didn’t have any other ideas,” Sara reminded her. “Besides, if I’m going out, at least it’s with you!”

Ava gave her a surprised look, and then a grin. “Sara Lance, that is the sappiest thing you’ve ever said.” 

Sara started to laugh, then heard the stomping of feet turning down the alley, and stopped herself, throwing a hand over Ava’s mouth for good measure. Ava nodded to signal that she’d heard it too. They’d be discovered any moment. 

“Weapons check?” Sara whispered, uncovering Ava’s mouth. 

Ava shook her head. “I’m down to my knife and we’re not here to kill people.”

“They don’t seem to have the same qualms about killing us,” Sara pointed out.

She tugged off her mask, the fabric, now unfamiliar to her, bothering her face. It wasn’t going to help her get out of this. Only a miracle could help her get out of this now. 

“What do you think our odds are?” Ava asked, voice barely audible as the footsteps stopped nearby.  

Sara gave her a wry smile. “Slim to none.”

“Face them anyway?” Ava suggested, pulling out her knife. 

Sara pulled her in and kissed her deeply. “On the count of three. One.”

“Two,” Ava continued. 

“Three,” they yelled together, jumping out from behind the dumpster, bodies positioned defensively, anticipating the coming fight. 

“There you guys are! Did somebody call for a rescue?” 

Sara’s mouth fell open as she took in Nate, Zari, and Ray looking smug. Back at the main road Sara caught a glimpse of flame and knew that Mick and the rest of team were chasing off what remained of their pursuers. 

Relief flooded through her, her body suddenly feeling heavy as her shoulders sagged. Rescue had come. They were safe. They had survived another day, another ordeal. She was going home. 

A thought ticked into her mind that made her straighten once more. Several months late they were going home. “Which one of you idiots left us behind?” 

Zari, Nate, and Ray all pointed at each other. 

Sara rolled her eyes. “Well, good job sticking to the plan for once.” 

“Did you have a nice little vacation, Captain?” Nate asked with a cheeky grin. 

Sara narrowed her eyes at him and gave him a smack on the arm. “IT. WAS. NOT. A. VACATION! And what took our rescue so long??”

“It’s a bit of a long story,” Zari said. 

“One maybe better shared back on the ship when this is all fixed?” Ava suggested. 

“Yes, right. Okay.” 

Completion of rescue first. Explanations later. 

Maybe, in her and Ava’s case, slightly filtered explanations. 

  
  


Stories had been shared, basic debriefing had occurred, a stiff drink had been had, and now it was time for real life to resume. 

That meant seeing Ava off. 

It was the only part of being back that Sara wasn’t looking forward to, and by the way that Ava was dragging her feet, it seemed that she wasn’t exactly in a hurry to say goodbye either. They hadn’t had time to talk about where they stood. They hadn’t had any privacy since they got back on the Waverider until this very second. With a new time courier safely on her wrist, Ava would be expected back at the Time Bureau any minute. 

“Well, it’s been…”

“Something?” Ava finished for her with a shy smile. She looked away, and Sara glanced around to make sure they were alone before reaching out to touch her chin, lifting her gaze. 

Checking for people watching was something they’d have to get used to now. The thought made her stomach tie in unfamiliar knots. That wasn’t going to be the only thing they’d have to work out now. Sleeping together was one thing, but it was more than just a quick fling. They might not have talked about it, but they both knew it. 

“I couldn’t think of someone I’d rather get stuck in time with,” Ava said, the words taking Sara’s breath away. 

Sara swallowed down the sudden lump in her throat at the vulnerable look in Ava’s eyes, and managed what she hoped was a nonchalant smile. “Well, I’d rather not make a habit of it, but if it had to happen again, I’d take you in a heartbeat.” 

Ava’s smile widened in a way that made Sara’s heart beat a little bit faster. She cleared her throat before she said something way too mushy way too soon that she couldn’t take back. 

“We’re not going to be able to keep this a secret forever,” Ava said. 

Sara sighed. “We’re not even going to be able to keep it a secret for long. On this ship? Sadly privacy is a luxury I no longer have.”

Ava nodded. “So...Should we tell them?”

Sara shook her head. “They’ll figure it out.” There was no need to rush everyone asking far-too-probing questions when they’d barely even gotten back. 

“See you soon?” Ava asked. 

Sara couldn’t resist. She cupped Ava’s cheek and pulled her in to a long, lingering kiss. She felt Ava’s fingers slide into her hair, holding her close. They could get caught any second, but Sara didn’t want to pull away. Finally she did, though. 

“You know,” she said in as casual a voice as she could muster, taking a step back so that they were at a seemingly appropriate distance from each other, “I’ll be in my room in a little bit.” 

Ava bit her lower lip and grinned. “I’ll see you there,” she murmured. With that, Ava pressed the button on her time courier, turned and walked into her office at the time bureau. She turned back and offered a little wave that Sara returned. 

When the portal closed, Sara watched the empty space for a moment. It was another moment beyond that before she realized she still had a goofy smile on her face. 

She straightened, smoothed her clothes, and turned to find Zari watching her with a smirk. 

Sara sighed heavily and headed down the hallway towards her. “How much did you hear?”

Zari shrugged, falling into step beside her. “Enough to know I’m going to be seeing  a log more of Ava Sharpe.” 

Sara felt a blush creep up her cheeks and did her best to ignore it. “We were stuck for a while,” she pointed out with a hint of accusation in her voice .

“Hey, no judgement. You can screw whoever you want,” Zari replied, holding up her hands. 

“Thank you,” Sara replied. 

“Is it more than just screwing?” Zari asked. 

“Mind your own business,” Sara retorted. “But...yes.”

Zari grinned smugly, which made Sara regret her candor. Sara rolled her eyes. 

“Hey, so does this mean we get more leeway now?” 

Leeway for the Legends. It sounded like a bit of a stretch. Ava was still Ava after all. Then again, Ava could be surprising. 

Sara shrugged. “Probably.”

“Yes!” Zari replied. “Please don’t ever break up with her.”

Sara laughed. It was waaaay too soon for thoughts like that. For now, though...Well, getting back to normal was going to be interesting. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for coming on this adventure with me! I hope you liked it! xx


End file.
